At present, there are three rounds left in La Liga and one round in the Bundesliga, but the league positions of Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund have been determined. Real Madrid had already won the title four rounds ahead of schedule, and Borussia Dortmund once had the possibility of overtaking RB Leipzig to finish fourth in the Bundesliga, but with their 3-0 defeat to Mainz, this possibility was finally eliminated completely - fifth place is Dortmund's final league standings this season.
Why focus on the league results of these two teams? Of course, because they will be in this season's Champions League final. At club level, the Champions League final is the biggest game in European football every season, and it is also the ultimate suspense. Previously, the Champions League final was still held at the end of May, and at that time, many leagues had not yet been played; And now, UEFA has already scheduled the Champions League final to the beginning of June, when all the major European leagues are over, waiting for the ultimate battle. This arrangement makes it seem that the Champions League final has the feeling of a peak showdown.
However, is there a feeling that this season's Champions League final may be the most disparity in recent years in terms of strength.
Needless to say, Real Madrid is at a high level and has reached the semi-finals for four consecutive seasons. The last time Dortmund reached the last four was in the 12-13 season. And in terms of the historical results of the Champions League, how can Dortmund, who have only won the championship once, compare with Real Madrid, the winner of 14 championships? In addition, Dortmund has gone Haaland and Bellingham in the last two seasons, of which Bellingham was directly given to Real Madrid.
All of this is actually reflected in the league rankings. One champion, one fifth. If it weren't for the high European points in the Bundesliga, Dortmund would not even have to play in the Champions League next season, unless they win the Champions League. Moreover, the overall competitiveness of La Liga should be stronger than that of the Bundesliga, so in horizontal comparison, the gap between the two sides may not only be the gap between the first and fifth.
Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund will meet in the Champions League final, which is the same as the league ranking gap record in the history of the Champions League.
Since the expansion of the Champions League, more teams have been involved in the competition, and most of them are not league winners, and even that season, they may not be able to win the title, or even the regular Champions League places. Therefore, there is a possibility that there will be a gap in the league standings in the final.
As a recent example, last season's Champions League final, Manchester City vs. Inter Milan. Manchester City are the Premier League champions, while Inter Milan are only third in Serie A, two places apart from each other. This is not a small gap, we look at the Istanbul miracle in the 04-05 season, Liverpool only finished fifth in the Premier League that season, while the opponent Milan won second in Serie A, three places apart. Don't look at the small number, but don't forget, this is the Champions League final, the pinnacle of European football, both sides should be champions in principle, but the difference is two or three, in fact, it is not small.
The biggest gap is in the Champions League in the 11-12 season. Bayern finished second in the Bundesliga, which is not very good, while the opponent Chelsea actually only finished sixth in the Premier League, is this still a bit of the style of the Champions League final? One is second, one is sixth, and the two sides are four places apart. In addition, there is also the 00-01 season, Bayern are the Bundesliga champions, while Valencia only finished fifth in La Liga, and the two sides are also four places apart.
This season, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund are four places behind, tying the league standings gap between Bayern and Chelsea that year, and of course, also equaling the records of Bayern and Valencia that year. It can be seen that after the European Champions Cup was restructured into the Champions League, it gave many teams the opportunity to counterattack, and at the same time, it also added a lot of championship-winning models, such as Dortmund, which has a chance to succeed if it is on a dead front.
Of course, the league standings gap is just an imaginary number, without any reference. It would be too optimistic to think that Real Madrid will win. Didn't Bayern, who were second in the Bundesliga, lose to Chelsea, who were sixth in the Premier League? Therefore, Real Madrid must be careful not to take the advantage of the league position as their advantage in the Champions League final.