Wednesday 04 / December / 2024
Dortmund: Borussia Dortmund may have ended the German Bundesliga in a modest fifth place by their standards, but the best is yet to come in the form of the UEFA Champions League final against record winners Real Madrid.
Coach Edin Terzic has two weeks to prepare his side for the 1st of June match at Wembley in London, where Dortmund were beaten to Europe's biggest prize by Bayern Munich 11 years ago.
Dortmund are rated underdogs against freshly-crowned La Liga champions and 14-times Champions League winners Real Madrid with their ex-Dortmund player Jude Bellingham.
But they were also underdogs in 1997 when they lifted the trophy by beating Juventus 3-1.
Dortmund have impressed more in the UEFA Champions League this season than in the German Bundesliga, winning a tough group ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Newcastle United, and then beating PSV Eindhoven, Atletico Madrid and PSG to reach the final.
They ended the up-and-down Bundesliga season in style with a 4-0 victory against relegated Darmstadt yesterday (Saturday), and sporting director Sebastian Kehl spoke of "a good feeling that will accompany us to Wembley over the next two weeks."
Forward Julian Brandt said: "Now we want to make the most of the next two weeks so that we go to Wembley in the best-possible shape."
It remains to be seen whether former captain Marco Reus will feature at Wembley in what will be his final match for Dortmund, after an emotional home farewell on Saturday which he crowned with a goal and an assist.
The one thing missing from Reus' career in black and yellow is a real major title, having only lifted two German Cups with the club. He was also not part of Germany's 2014 World Cup-winning squad due to injury.
