After having concluded their La Liga campaign with a draw against Real Betis last Saturday, Real Madrid have only one game left in this season, the UEFA Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund.
The Merengues were able to beat the likes of Manchester City and Bayern Munich to get to this stage of the tournament, and this season they once again showed the differential qualities that have made them so successful in the premier European competition, i.e., grit, discipline, and belief in their abilities till the very last minute.
Having won the competition 14 times, significantly more than any other team in the continent, one can assume that Los Blancos have a special relationship with this trophy.
In fact, the Madrid club has not lost any of the last eight finals in which they have qualified, and the last time they lost a European Cup final was 43 years ago, when they lost 1-0 to Liverpool back in 1981.
As Mundo Deportivo has reported, this is a record that the coach of their upcoming rivals in the final, Edin Terzić, remembered, and was driven to ensure that this streak came to an end this Sunday. In an interview with Sky Sports, the Borussia Dortmund coach made his intentions clear:
“Our ultimate rival is waiting for us, we are betting everything on one match, and anything is possible. If anyone has proven this, it is us. It is time for this streak of eight matches and eight victories in finals to come to an end.”
The German also remembered that Dortmund has not been in a UCL final for some time, and wanted his team not to return empty-handed after reaching this stage:
“We are not satisfied with just being in the final. I try to do everything possible to prepare the team perfectly. We want to bring the title to Dortmund. It has been a long time since we were this close, it’s been a long time.”
Terzić also praised Carlo Ancelotti and took courage from the fact that the Italian had shown some nervousness ahead of this crucial match:
“Seeing Ancelotti, with his career and having won this cup so many times, say that he is nervous tells me we are on the right track. But the job of a coach is not to be happy or nervous, one has to have the feeling that they are preparing well. It’s not a problem to be nervous, because if you are nervous, you do everything necessary to prepare yourself.”
Lastly, the German coach also praised Real Madrid’s ability to remain competitive at the highest level even after losing some key players over the years:
“Their quality is good, they have managed to renew their generation of players without losing players. Who would have thought that after the departure of players like Karim Benzema or Cristiano Ronaldo, they would continue to be successful, but their next ten years are secured again. Their next generation is already in place.”
As Terzić’s comments clearly showed, Borussia Dortmund will give their all to get their hands on the trophy this Sunday. Thus, as Rudiger warned recently, Carlo Ancelotti will have to ensure that his team does not take their opponents lightly, and put in their best display to bring the 15th UCL title back to Madrid.
