Real Madrid's Toni Kroos got the better of former Germany team mate Marco Reus as both said goodbye to their clubs in the Champions League final.
Kroos, retiring after Germany's Euro 2024 campaign, moves onto a record-equalling sixth European Cup triumph along with fellow Madridistas Luka Modric, Nacho and opening goalscorer Dani Carvajal.
But he recognized how well Dortmund had played in the first half before Madrid grabbed a 2-0 win in the second half, with Vinicius Junior also on the scorersheet.
Kroos, 34, told ZDF: "It wasn't easy. I wanted to say goodbye with this Champions League title. It means so much.
"After we scored we got control but it took a long time until we were the better team."
Germany and Madrid team mate Antonio Rüdiger said: "It's unbelievable. It was a hard game, respect to Dortmund, they did well."
Dortmund-born Reus came on as a second-half substitute at 0-0 but leaves after 12 injury-hit years where he only won the German Cup twice. He also missed Germany's 2014 World Cup success.
The 35-year-old is now expected to move to Major League Soccer.
Mats Hummels, whose future is up in the air, put in another strong display in Dortmund's defence. He has not been picked in Germany's Euro 2024 squad and heads on holiday thinking what might have been.
"I am proud of the team for how we played. We started well with heart and with some class. We made some tiny mistaks and it slipped away," he said. "We had a bit of luck in this Champions League season, tonight we didn't. There is no reason to finger-point."
