The Real of Carlo Ancelotti is never as loud as when the anthem of the Champions League, his favorite competition, that of his most resounding strokes of brilliance. To reach London, the Madrilenians equalized twice against Manchester City (3-3) in the quarter-final first leg, kept the nerves strong on the return (1-1, 4-3 tab), held in check on Bayern in Munich (2-2) then overthrew the Germans in the half return (2-1) with two very late goals.
Despite this, Dortmund doesn’t want to tiptoe into Wembley. “We play against a team that is built to win the Champions League, whose mission is to win the Champions League. When we have a mission to fulfill, we can miss it. We have a dream. It’s the difference between a dream and a mission,” said coach Edin Terzic.
In a group of “death”, composed of Paris SG, AC Milan, NewcastleTHE Borussia had done well, before bringing down theAtletico Madrid of Antoine Griezmann and PSG of Kylian Mbappé. “Now, he is the absolute champion in the history of football and in this competition, who awaits us,” summarized the 41-year-old German. “I am firmly convinced that in a match anything is possible” and if anyone showed it this season, “it was us”, he slipped.
Real have won their last eight European finals, their last failure dates back to 1981, “but all that doesn’t count”, insisted the manager of BVB, fifth in the last Bundesliga. Dortmund, a historic club from the industrial Ruhr, has had little taste of the exhilaration of the summits: twice, it reached the final, for better (3-1 victory in 1997 against Juventus) and for worse (defeat 2-1 in 2013 against Bayern).
