Champions League Final: Borussia Dortmund – Real Madrid
One of the most anticipated matches of the year is upon us, after a few weeks waiting after the semi finals the final is finally here. European giants Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund will face off in the final game of the club football season to decide who is champions of europe. For Real Madrid this is definitely known terrain as this will be their 18th final in the club´s history. Of the previous 17 , Real walked away victorious in 14. For Dortmund it will be the 3rd final in their history, after winning the final in 1997 Die borussen came close again in 2013 when they lost to Bayern at the same ground where today´s final will be held, the home of football Wembley. Real Madrid will go in as favourites for tonight´s game but Dortmund have shown that they are very hard to beat and will definitely put up a fight.
Dortmund Team News
Marco Reus will make his final appreance tonight as a Dortmund player as he will leave the club after a 12 year stint this summer. Whether he will start remains to be seen as he has been rotated in and out of the squad over the course of the season. Terzic has an almost fully fit squad available ahead of the game with all the major players free from injury and suspension. Dortmund will hope that Jadon Sancho can make life difficult for Carvajal while they will rely on Mats Hummels to lead the well organized defence. Fullkrug made the deciding goal in the first leg of the semi final and he will need all his power and might to go up against Rudiger. Ian Maatsen, who was surprisingly left out of the Dutch squad for the Euros by Ronald Koeman will be especially fired up to end the season on a high.
Real Madrid Team News
Who will be on goal? For the last weeks this had been the question at Real Madrid after Thibaut Courtouis return to fitness following his ACL injury that kept him out for most of the season. His deputy, Andrey Lunin helped Real Madrid secure the spot in the final with some impressive displays along the road in the Champions League. Would Ancelloti reward Lunin for his displays to start the Champions League final or would Courtious get the favour ahead of him. Ancelloti finished all rumours at the press conference by stating that Courtious will take the spot in goal for the final on Saturday. Apart from long term injured David Alaba and doubtful Aurelien Tchouameni, the full squad is avaialble for Ancelloti. With Vinicius and Roddrygo likely up front to stir chaos in the organised Dortmund defence while Rudiger will be the rock at the back to eliminate any opposing threat coming from Dortmund.
Borussia Dortmund Form
Obviously both teams have not played any competitive matches after finishing the national leagues.Dortmund, exemplary for their rocky season lost 3-0 to Mainz the weekend after reaching the Champions League final, helping Mainz in their battle to avoid relegation. Die Borussen ended the league season on a high however, cruising past Darmstadt 4-0 in the last game of the season. In the Champions League Dortmund have already showed to be incredibly resilient and tough to beat, with only 2 defeats in their whole campaign(1 away from home against PSG, 1 away from home against Atletico). With the right tactics and organisation there is definitely a chance for Dortmund to make this a really tight game.
Real Madrid Form
Real Madrid have a few extra league games to play after their semi final victory over Bayern 3 weeks ago. They still featured in 4 La Liga games, winning the first 2 but drawing the last 2. However, with the league title already secured, these games were excellent to give some playing times to players who haven´t had the same playing time as others,and keeping the legs fresh for the main event, tonight´s final. However, it still showed how incredibly hard it is this season to beat Real Madrid as the only team to have done so sofar this season is Atletico Madrid. Once in the league in the Wanda Metrapolitano and once in the Copa del Rey after extra time.
What do the stats say?
- Real Madrid unbeaten in 25 matches in all competitions
- Dortmund finish 5th, outside of the regular champions League spots
- Dortmund have not won any of their last 4 matches against Real Madrid
- Any of the last 10 clashes saw at least 2 goals, with the last 4 clashes all seeing 4 goals or more
Our verdict
Real Madrid are definitely the clear favourites ahead of tonight´s clash. With all the pundits and the bookmakers clearly favouring the spanish side to win their 15th Champions League. However, we definitely think it will be not as easy as many people think it will be for Real Madrid tonight to win the league. Dortmund have shown to be incredibly tough to beat in the Champions League this season. And Real Madrid, obviously because of a tough route, have not won any of their knock out matches easily. Actually only winning 2 out of 6 matches up to the final. We expect a close game with Madrid as favourites but definitely all the chance to go either way.