LONDON: Real Madrid face Borussia Dortmund in the Champ­ions League final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday with Carlo Ancelotti’s side seeking to add another chapter to the club’s alre­ady astonishing love affair with European football’s elite trophy.

Bidding for a record-extending 15th European Cup and sixth in 10 years, they want to emulate Real’s dominance at the dawn of the competition when, during the Alfredo Di Stefano years, they won the first five editions from 1956 and another in 1966.

But after the group of Di Stef­ano, Ferenc Puskas, Paco Gento and Raymond Kopa established Real as ‘The Kings of Europe’, it took the club 32 painful years to reclaim their throne in 1998.

Rivals often joked about Real’s European Cups all being won in black and white, but the generation of Raul, Fernando Hierro and Roberto Carlos helped Real flourish again in full colour broadcasts when they won three Champion Leagues in five seasons.

But there were then another 12 fallow years, making Real’s quest for ‘The 10th’ an obsession for president Florentino Perez, who failed spectacularly to achieve it via his multimillion dollar ‘Galacticos’ approach.

Real, however, learned from their mistakes and instead of overpaying for big names past their prime, turned their attention to upcoming players on the rise, trying to develop some ‘Galacticos’ of their own.

They signed Toni Kroos from Bayern Munich, Sevilla’s Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema of Lyon, Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo — all under 24 and set to reach their peak during the following decade in Spain.

The club also started paying close attention to Brazil, looking for the next gem from the five-times world champions’ development system. Marcelo and Casemiro signed for a bargain six million euros ($6.50 million) and became club legends.

That youthful but talented squad, under the calm guidance of Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane, bonded as a group and connected on the pitch like a well-oiled machine to finally establish the second great dynasty Real had spent half a century looking for.

After winning a cathartic 10th European Cup led by Ancelotti in 2014, Real then won three in a row under Zidane.

Then, with Ancelotti back at the helm, they claimed another in 2022, crowning a remarkable campaign full of late comebacks that proved they were more than a team built around Ronaldo after the Portuguese left following the 2018 title in Kiev.

Now, two years later, they are back knocking on the door with a team in which Dani Carvajal is the only surviving starter from ‘The 10th’ a decade ago, as their young guns are eager to prove they are ready to step up and continue the club’s success.

Ronaldo, Ramos, Marcelo, Benzema and Casemiro are all long gone. Kroos has just had a retirement send-off and will stop playing after the Euros, while Luka Modric, 38, has become a rotational player in a young squad brimming with talent.

However, barely missing a beat, Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo have taken on the famous white shirt and are already looking to establish the next Real dynasty.

Edin Terzic’s Dortmund side are certainly not turning up as guests at the Madrid party though even though they have beaten the odds just to make it to London.

Their Champions League pedigree pales in comparison to Real’s — a single triumph in the 1997 final and defeat in 2013 — and they are coming off a disappointing Bundesliga season.

And there is no better illustration of the contrast between the rivals than Bellingham, who swap­ped Dortmund for Real last year in a deal worth up to $139 million.

Plucked from English Champi­onship side Birmingham City as a teenager, Bellingham was moul­ded and developed by the German gia­nts before being picked off by Real.

Without him, Dortmund struggled domestically this season, finishing fifth in the Bundesliga, 27 points adrift of Bayer Leverkusen.

Yet, Terzic’s men have saved their best for the Champions League. Dortmund topped the group of death featuring Paris St Germain, AC Milan and Newcastle United. PSV Eindhoven and Atletico Madrid were then seen off before a heroic defensive display kept out PSG over two legs in the semi-finals.

And Ancelotti, who has won the competition as a coach a record four times, warned his players the Champions League final is the most “dangerous” game in football.

“A Champions League final is the most important game but also the most dangerous,” Ancelotti told a news conference on Friday.

“We have to enjoy being here, but knowing it can go wrong because we are close to the most important thing in football — winning a CL — but having the fear this can escape us.

“Things have to go very well, you need to be lucky too, success is very close and so the worry begins tomorrow morning, tomorrow afternoon.”

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2024