Wembley awaits as Real Madrid reach 18th Champions League final
The 'Kings of Europe' will once again appear in a Champions League final. They will do so two years after the last one and 68 years since they played in the first, when they beat Reims 4-3 to begin their love affair with the most glittering tournament of them all.
To get to the match at Wembley (London) on Saturday, June 1st, Real Madrid defeated another historic side, Bayern Munich, in the semi-finals in which attacking prowess prevailed above all else.
Before the Germans, their fellow countrymen RB Leipzig (2-1 on aggregate in the last 16) and reigning champions Manchester City (4-4 on aggregate in the quarter-finals and 4-3 on penalties) fell to the Madrid side.
Germany has been very present in the path of Carlo Ancelotti's side in this edition of the competition. As well as Napoli and Braga, they also faced Union Berlin in the group stage, in which they won all their matches, and will face Dortmund in June.
Their journey to London has been unblemished, as they have not lost once in the pursuit of their goal - a record befitting a 14-time European champion.
Real Madrid's finals
As a good King of Europe, the team from the Spanish capital is the club with the most appearances (17) in the Champions League final since the tournament was founded as the European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1955.
Already in that first instalment, Real Madrid started a run of five consecutive titles won (1956-1960) that remains an all-time record to this day. Stade Reims twice, Fiorentina, Milan (3-2 after extra time) and Eintracht Frankfurt were the first victims of a long list.
After that first glorious period, came the worst period of defeats in finals for the side. Between 1962 and 1981, they suffered their only three defeats in the final, but in between they lifted the sixth - against Partizan Belgrade 2-1 in 1966. Benfica in 1962, Inter Milan in 1964 and Liverpool in 1981 are the three teams who have managed to snatch the trophy from their grasps.
Since the slip-up against the Merseyside club, the most successful team in the continent's top competition has won eight finals, which would have been enough to surpass any other competitor in terms of trophies.
Real Madrid, the record holders
As mentioned above, Madrid are the most successful European Cup winners with 14 trophies and will be looking for their 15th at Wembley. They have also played in the most finals, and will be going for their 18th.
It will be the first time that Los Blancos will be playing for the title on English soil, specifically in the capital, London. Paris is the city where they have played the final match the most times (4), twice at the Parc des Princes and twice at the Stade de France, where they won the 14th.
Together with Eintracht Frankfurt, on May 10th, 1960, Real were the highest-scoring (10, 7-3 for Madrid) of all time. This duel is considered by many to be the greatest final in the history of football.
Of the 17 finals contested by the team from the Spanish capital, only two (1958 and 2014) were decided in extra time and one (Milan 2016), against Atletico Madrid, on penalties. All of them went to the champions on 14 occasions.
They began their time in the competition with five consecutive finals wins (1956-1960) and are the only club to have managed to repeat the trophy in the modern era (three in a row between 2016 and 2018).
Three times, Liverpool are Real Madrid's most-played Champions League final opponents, with the Spaniards winning 2-1. It will be the first time that Ancelotti's side have faced Borussia Dortmund.
The date has been set: Saturday June 1st at 20:00 BST. Those who get a ticket will travel to London to support the team. Those who do not have the opportunity to do so, will be able to see if the Fifteenth is achieved on TV or on the giant screens set up by the club at the Santiago Bernabeu.
