Champions League Final: Real Madrid Secures 15th European Cup with 2-0 Victory over Borussia Dortmund

In a celebration of gold and silver confetti, Real Madrid lifted the Champions League trophy for a record 15th time on Saturday after a 2-0 win against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium.

Carlo Ancelotti, extending his own record to five wins as a coach, remarked, “Getting used to it? Never. The dream continues.”

A sea of Madrid fans cheered as goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior clinched the victory. Despite Dortmund dominating the first half, Madrid secured the win with late goals.

“It was a very difficult game, much more difficult than we had expected,” Ancelotti said. “We changed things because in the first half we were a bit lazy.”

Carvajal scored in the 74th minute, followed by Vinicius nine minutes later. Ancelotti's fifth Champions League title is his third with Madrid, surpassing Zinedine Zidane, Pep Guardiola, and Bob Paisley.

Carvajal, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, and Nacho each celebrated their sixth Champions League win, matching the record of Madrid legend Paco Gento.

Madrid's triumph comes a year after Manchester City's first win, which many thought would mark a new era of dominance. However, Ancelotti reaffirmed his status as a top coach with his continued success in the Champions League.

In addition to his three titles with Madrid, Ancelotti has two with AC Milan. He also won the Spanish league this season, marking his sixth league championship in five different countries.

Madrid's 15 titles are more than double that of the next most successful club, AC Milan, with seven. This win is Madrid's ninth in the Champions League era and their second in three seasons.

“This is the love story between Real Madrid and the European Cup. Players come, players go, but we can say that this is our competition,” said Madrid president Florentino Perez.

Madrid's future looks promising with Kylian Mbappe expected to join as a free agent from Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil's rising star Endrick set to arrive. Perez, however, remained tight-lipped about Mbappe's potential arrival.

“You can ask me as many times as you want, but I am only going to talk about the players that are on Real Madrid's team,” Perez stated. “And above all today, when we just won a European Cup. These are the players who deserve all the praise. The future? We will have to talk about that at some other point.”

Ancelotti is already looking ahead. “In this club there is constant demand. It is never satisfied,” he said. “We will come back with the same eagerness and with the same excitement and anticipation as before.”

Dortmund's failure to capitalize on their first-half dominance cost them. Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made several crucial saves, and Niclas Fullkrug hit the post.

Madrid capitalized after the break when Carvajal headed in Kroos' corner at the near post. Vinicius added a second, securing the win and celebrating with rapper Jay-Z among the 86,000 spectators.

This marks Dortmund's second loss in a final, the first being to Bayern Munich in 2013, also at Wembley. Their sole win in the competition was in 1997.

Coach Edin Terzic outmaneuvered Ancelotti tactically in the first half, but Dortmund couldn't convert their chances. Courtois and the goalpost kept the score level, with the keeper denying Karim Adeyemi twice and Fullkrug hitting the post.

“There was the momentum when the game turned around and you see why they are the champions of this competition,” Terzic said. “We couldn't manage to score and that was the key why we didn't manage to win the game.”