3️⃣ things we learned as Real Madrid triumph in the UCL final | OneFootball

Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 to claim their 15th European title.

Second half goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Júnior saw Los Blancos overcome a spirited Schwarzgelben side.

Champ15ns

Real Madrid are, for the 15th time, European champions.

This certainly won’t go down as one of Los Blancos’ best final performances but the Spanish giants know one thing, and that’s how to win.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men were woeful in the first half, failing to produce a single shot on goal but whatever the Italian coach said at half time clearly worked wonders.

Real Madrid were a totally different team after the break and eventually peppered the Dortmund goal in the final 15 minutes.

#ShotonOPPO

With Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo all having quiet games up to that point, it was left to a very unlikely goalscorer to get Madrid over the line.

Youth team graduate Dani Carvajal was the man to break the deadlock as his near post header nestled into the far corner.

With Dortmund then pushing for an equaliser, Vinicius found space inside the area to complete the win and help Real Madrid claim the trophy that was always destined to be theirs.

What might have been

Most of the talk before this game was of how Dortmund rode their luck to get to Wembley and how Real Madrid were set for their 15th European Cup.

Edin Terzić’s side though, clearly didn’t read the script.

Dortmund were sensational, causing Real Madrid untold problems with one statistic in particular proving just how much the German giants had outplayed their Spanish counterparts in the first half.

At the break, Dortmund had produced an XG (Expected Goals) of 1.68 – that was the highest of any side ever in the first half of a Champions League final – and more than Bayern Munich had provided at any point in their semi-final against Los Blancos.

#ShotonOPPO

Real Madrid meanwhile, were left with a paltry 0.08 having not had a single shot on goal in 45 minutes.

The one stat that really mattered though, was the scoreboard with Karim Adeyemi missing a gilt-edged one-on-one early on and Niklas Füllkrug than hitting the post and watching the ball roll across the goal line.

Dortmund would pay for that profligacy in the second half as Carlo Ancelotti’s had two real efforts on goal and made it count.

Football really can be the cruelest of sports sometimes.

Class Kroos

Farewell then to Toni Kroos.

The Real Madrid midfielder confirmed last week that tonight’s match at Wembley would be his very last in club football.

Kroos was bowing out right at the pinnacle of the game with only the European Championships in his home country to come.

It was, in truth, the perfect way for the veteran midfielder to say goodbye having been nothing but class personified in his near 20-year career.

#ShotonOPPO

Kroos was almost metronomic in midfield throughout his 85 minutes on the pitch, having completed 91 passes and misplacing just three.

That was a 97 per cent success rate – almost perfect then for a player that is practically perfect in every way.

A six-time Champions League winner. What a way to bow out.