Carlo Ancelotti said that Real Madrid’s winning mentality helped them survive a major scare against Borussia Dortmund and claim a record 15th Champions League title.
The German side dominated the first half at Wembley and it required a string of fine saves from Thibaut Courtois, who has spent most of the season out injured, to keep them level at the break. Those missed chances came back to haunt Dortmund, with Dani Carvajal heading home from a Toni Kroos corner 16 minutes from time before Vinícius Júnior made sure of the victory – the ninth successive European Cup final Madrid have contested in which they have emerged victorious.
It meant the Germany midfielder brought the curtain down on his illustrious club career by matching Paco Gento’s all-time record of six European Cup medals, along with Carvajal, the defender Nacho and Luka Modric, who was brought on later as a substitute. Florentino Pérez, Madrid’s president, confirmed the 38-year-old Croatian midfielder is expected to sign a one‑year contract extension.
Ancelotti also extended his record of winning the coveted trophy more than any other manager with his fifth triumph and seventh in total, having also won the competition twice as a player with Milan.
“I don’t know what is going to happen tonight,” he said. “But we are not going to sleep! It seems like a dream but it is reality.”
Asked how Madrid keep winning the Champions League after five successes in the last nine editions of the competition, he added: “It is the history and tradition of the club, of course the quality of the players. The club is a family, we work together without problems and the atmosphere is really good in the dressing room. I need to thank the club and the players, no big egos, really humble, it was not difficult to manage the squad this season.”
Ancelotti shared a massive hug with Jude Bellingham at the final whistle, as the England midfielder ended his first season in Spain after joining from Dortmund last summer by adding the European Cup to winning La Liga. The 20-year-old missed a great opportunity to score late on but admitted he had to pinch himself after such a memorable occasion in front of his family.
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“I’ve always dreamed of playing in these games,” he told TNT Sports. “You go through life and there are so many people saying you can’t do things and days like today remind you why. When it gets hard at times you start to wonder if it’s all worth it. Nights like tonight make it all worth it.”
Bellingham, who revealed that he will not link up with England’s Euro 2024 squad until after the friendlies against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday and Iceland on Friday, handed his winner’s medal to his mother, Denise, after the game. As well as his parents, his brother, Jobe, who plays for Sunderland, was in the stands.
“I was OK until I saw my mum and dad’s faces,” he added. “The nights they could have been home at seven o’clock but they are still out at 11 or 12 taking me to football. My little brother there, who I am trying to be a role model for too. Hard to put it into words, best night of my life.”
Dortmund have now tasted defeat in successive Champions League finals at Wembley, after losing 2-1 here to Bayern Munich in 2013. Their coach, Edin Terzic, was consoled by José Mourinho after the game and he admitted his side had failed to take their chances. “It was a game full of mistakes and it’s about how you react to them,” he said. “The quality of the opponent is incredible and when you see how we lost the momentum of the game through a set piece then this is something we have to learn from. We were always dangerous with the ball but we couldn’t manage to score and that was why we didn’t win the game.”
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Terzic paid tribute to almost 100,000 Dortmund fans who are estimated to have travelled to London. The Metropolitan police said 53 arrests were made during the final after beefed-up security measures were put in place, with five linked to a pitch invasion that delayed the game for two minutes just after kick‑off and “the majority of others for attempts to breach security”.
