Champions League Final: Dramatic contrast between Real Madrid and Dortmund

King of the Last 10 Minutes

Since 1998, after defeating Juventus 1-0 at the Amsterdam Arena (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Real Madrid has reached the Champions League final 7 more times and always won the final.

Real Madrid had another win over Juventus, two against Liverpool, two against their neighbours Atletico, one against Valencia and the other against Bayer Leverkusen. These victories helped "Los Merengues" dominate Europe with 14 titles in history.

Now, meeting another representative of German football, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid is confident of winning like the way they overcame Leverkusen 22 years ago, at Hampden Park (Glasgow, Scotland).

Real Madrid beat Leverkusen 2-1 with Zinedine Zidane's volley becoming one of the most beautiful goals in football history, along with saves from Iker Casillas, who came on in the second half.

At the beginning of the season, Real Madrid were not highly rated and many experts predicted that reaching the semi-finals would be a success for Ancelotti's team.

Real Madrid excelled in winning a ticket to Wembley (London, England). On the journey to the final, they were the team that played the last 10 minutes better than any opponent.

Between Joselu's brace against Bayern Munich, in the second leg of the semi-final, and Bellingham's strike against Union Berlin, in the 93rd minute of the opening group game, Real Madrid have scored five more goals from the 80th minute onwards.

Thus, 7 goals from the 80th minute out of 26 goals that Madrid scored in the Champions League season, equivalent to 26.9%.

Real Madrid were outstanding in terms of scoring rate in the second half (61.5%), but towards the end, the La Liga champions exploded even more strongly.

In the same tournament, Dortmund have only scored 2 goals since the 80th minute: 1 goal by Marco Reus against PSV in the round of 16 (91'); 1 goal at the Metropolitano stadium in the quarter-final match against Atletico thanks to Haller (81').

Dortmund's total goals scored in the final 10 minutes of Champions League matches this season is just 11.7%.

Borussia Dortmund threat

In contrast, Dortmund scored two goals in the first 10 minutes. Real Madrid did not score any goals during this period, and the earliest goal belonged to Rodrygo, which took place in the 11th minute of the match against Napoli at the Bernabeu.

There was one highlight for Dortmund: the explosion between the 30th and 50th minutes. Edin Terzic's side scored five goals during this period, compared to just two for Real Madrid.

This is certainly something Ancelotti must be wary of. The Italian needs to help his team focus especially in the final minutes of the first half and after the break.

Furthermore, coach Terzic has had 12 different players score goals. This means the German team always has many solutions to conquer the opponent's net.

In the Real Madrid squad, there were 10 players who scored. Vinicius, Rodrygo and Joselu each had 5 goals, while Bellingham scored 4 goals.

No one expected Dortmund to reach the final, especially when they were drawn in the group of death and failed to score in the first two matches (PSG and Milan). The victory over Newcastle changed everything.

"From the third match onwards, when we played against Newcastle and won, we started to believe that we could achieve something. Our self-esteem increased," Terzic explained about the team's progress.

Dortmund defeated PSG in both semi-final matches. Going to London is a worthy reward for the fighting spirit of Terzic and his team.

"If we play Real Madrid 10 times, it will be difficult to win in the end, but in a 90-minute or 120-minute battle and penalties, we can beat anyone," Terzic said confidently.

Dortmund are Real Madrid's fourth German opponents this season. They have beaten all three previous Bundesliga sides: Union Berlin, RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich.

At Wembley, in a final of many colours and contrasts, the drama promises to reach its climax in the last 10 minutes.