REAL Madrid C.F. relied on two late conversions to topple Borussia Dortmund, 2-0, and claim the 2024 UEFA Champions League crown on Saturday night (Sunday in Manila) at the Wembley Arena in London.
Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Juníor knocked down a goal each late in the second half as Real Madrid captured its sixth Champions League title in the last 11 seasons and 15th overall.
Vinicius, who has been with Real Madrid since 2018 and was part of their two Championship League title runs, said he hopes that this is not his final game with the Los Blancos.
“I want to stay here at Real Madrid forever. I want to make history,” the Brazilian booter said. “I hope (Real Madrid president) Florentino (Perez) sees this interview and renews my contract again.”
Borussia Dortmund missed several chances to score in the opening half, including one of the closest opportunities when Niclas Füllkrug’s attempt over Real Madrid keeper Thibaut Courtois just hit the post.
Karim Adeyemi and Julian Brandt of Borussia Dortmund also had good chances to take the lead for their squad, but were either forced wide of the net by defenders or a kick sailed wide.
Real Madrid, which unexpectedly had zero shots on target in the first half, made some adjustments in the final half as Vinicius made a path toward the net that earned a free kick, Toni Kroos’ attempt, however, went toward the top left corner.
Carvajal finally broke through in the 73rd minute with a header off a corner kick from Kroos that went high and wide left past Borussia Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel for a 1-0 lead.
Real Madrid quickly doubled the advantage as Vinicius took a pass from Jude Bellingham in the 82nd minute and sent it against the defense of Kobel for a 2-0 advantage.
The match also served as the final game of Kroos with Real Madrid after he announced recently that he was retiring from football. He has won six Champions League titles with the club./PN
