By James Cormack
Real Madrid secured their 15th Champions League on Saturday night with Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior grabbing goals in their 2-0 victory against Borussia Dortmund.
BVB were excellent for the most part at Wembley, but they failed to take advantage of their superiority in the opening hour. Edin Terzic's side were inefficient in the final third and Thibaut Courtois produced a fine performance to shut out the German side.
Madrid then pounced in the closing stages, with Carvajal opening the scoring from a Toni Kroos corner before Vinicius wrapped things up in the dying embers following a Dortmund error in the build-up.
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There was a treat for UK viewers pre-match, as TNT Sports welcomed Gareth Bale and Jose Mourinho onto their punditry team. Mourinho was on top form, although Borussia Dortmund supporters made it clear that he's no longer Jurgen Klopp in their eyes.
The two bosses picked familiar XIs for Saturday's showpiece event under the iconic arch, with Toni Kroos lining up for the very last time for Madrid, while Marco Reus started on the bench for Dortmund.
Pre-match projections of a one-sided final were quickly dispelled as Dortmund started the brighter of the two teams, and they were desperately unlucky not to find themselves ahead in the opening stages.
After Julian Brandt pushed a half-chance wide, Karim Adeyemi, who emerged as BVB's chief threat early on, and Niclas Fullkrug both spurned golden opportunities to give Dortmund the lead. The latter hit the inside of the post having found himself in behind the Madrid backline.
The majority of onlookers were waiting for a Madrid resurgence in the opening period, but no such improvement arrived. Dortmund completely stifled their supposedly superior opponents, and took advantage of their flawed out of possession structure.
But the two sides entered the break without the deadlock being broken.
Madrid were able to establish some control after half-time, but Dortmund remained firmly in the contest on the hour mark and they continued to threaten the Madrid defence. Fullkrug was again denied by the excellent Courtois, who seemed intent on repeating his match-winning performance from the 2022 final against Liverpool.
There was a cruel inevitability over what was about to ensue after Dortmund had performed so well for the opening hour. However, it wasn't Vinicius or Jude Bellingham that delivered the killer blow, but Madrid stalwart Carvajal, who headed home superbly from a Toni Kroos corner to give Madrid the lead with 15 minutes remaining.
Carvajal's header all but sealed the contest, with Madrid cruising towards a 15th title. Vinicius wrapped things up with an emphatic left-footed finish, as the European champions bade farewell to midfield maestro Toni Kroos in the process.
Was there any ever doubt?
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This article was originally published on 90min.com as X reacts as Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund to claim 15th Champions League title.
