Real Madrid were crowned kings of Europe for the 15th time after a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final at Wembley.
Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Jr struck in the second half to punish the Germans for failing to make the most of their chances in what was a more enthralling contest than had been billed.
After the opening exchanges were held up by a trio of pitch invaders inside the first minute, Dortmund made the more confident start and fired a warning shot after 15 minutes when Julian Brandt sliced a shot wide from inside the box.
Madrid’s midfield trio were far too porous in the absence of Aurelien Tchouameni and their offside trap was regularly breached too. Karim Adeyemi broke in to round Thibaut Courtois but Dani Carvajal was able to clear his shot from a tight angle after a heavy touch by the winger.
Niclas Fullkrug went closest moments later when he found himself one-on-one, albeit from what was likely an offside position, and clipped the inside of the post.
Courtois stood firm to deny Adeyemi again before parrying Marcel Sabitzer’s rocket from range and Dortmund entered the break comfortably the better side, with Real yet to even have a shot on target - the first team to fail to do so in a Champions League final since Tottenham in 2019.
Toni Kroos set about ending that with a well-hit free-kick soon after the restart, which Gregor Kobel saved well, before Dani Carvajal flicked a header narrowly over from the retiring midfielder’s corner.
Los Blancos lacked any real sense of impetus though and before long Borussia were back on the front foot, Fullkrug’s bullet header drawing a strong save from Courtois on 62 minutes.
There was a growing sense that this game, like so many Champions League finals in recent years, would be settled by a single goal and Carvajal grabbed the opener after 74 minutes with a repeat run of his chance earlier in the second half - this time directing Kroos’ delivery into the far corner of the net.
With the deadlock broken, Real suddenly oozed confidence in a more open game and went close through Jude Bellingham and Nacho Fernandez before Vinicius Jr leapt on an Ian Maatsen mistake to make it 2-0.
