Is there a feeling that since the Champions League was restructured, Dortmund this season is the weakest opponent Real Madrid has faced in the Champions League final. Juventus in 98 has a strong lineup and is more luxurious than Real Madrid; Valencia in 00 is at its peak; Bayer Leverkusen in '02, King of Sanya; After Atletico Madrid, Europe's No. 1 kraft candy; After that, Juventus was in the golden age of nine consecutive championships; The last Liverpool, the king of multi-front battles.
Only Dortmund this season, in terms of league results, fifth in the Bundesliga, and has lost two aces in the team in the past two years. So for Real Madrid fans, this may be the least nervous since watching the Champions League final in nearly three decades.
However, the more this is the case, the more likely it is that something unexpected will happen. Recently, although Real Madrid won the La Liga championship ahead of schedule, it still continued to play big scores, with an indomitable momentum; Dortmund, on the other hand, felt a bit of a mess, losing 0:3 to the relegation team Mainz. However, the more Dortmund messes up in the Bundesliga, the more it feels like it's holding back its big moves. In short, the Dortmund that appeared at Wembley on June 2 was by no means the one that lost 3-0 to Mainz.
Combined with the comparison of the strengths of the two teams, combined with the journey of the two teams to reach the Champions League final this season, I feel more and more that the background of this season's Champions League final is very similar to last season's Champions League final. So is there a possibility that Real Madrid vs. Dortmund is a replica of last season's Champions League final, Manchester City vs. Inter?
First, let's look at the pre-war trend of public opinion. Manchester City were the favourites ahead of last season's final, with a 4-0 win over Real Madrid in the second leg of the semi-finals setting the tone for the team, and last season, Manchester City had already achieved a double before the Champions League final. And Inter Milan not only has a much worse squad than Manchester City, but also only ranks third in the league, although it can't be said to be bad, but it can only be said to be unsatisfactory. I remember before the game, many people hyped the Argentine derby, the duel between Alvarez and Lautaro. But Alvarez is just a substitute at Manchester City, while Lautaro is Inter's thigh. This kind of inclined derby reflects the gap between the two teams.
I have to say that at present, Real Madrid and Dortmund also have this kind of public opinion tendency. Obviously, there are many more people who are bullish on Real Madrid than on Borussia Dortmund. Moreover, there is indeed a gap in strength between the two teams. And Real Madrid has much more experience in the Champions League than Dortmund. Note that here we don't talk about the historical background, don't go to the ancient gods, just look at the Champions League experience of this lineup, Real Madrid is indeed much better than Dortmund. In last season's Champions League final, many people talked about Inter's heritage, thinking that their Champions League experience was far better than that of the new giants Manchester City, which is ungrounded. If you have more experience than the Champions League, Manchester City, which has reached the semifinals of the Champions League for many years, is much better than Inter. Are you going to go to the Ancient Fishing for Meacha? Or, to talk about the treble of the Mourinho era? Please, the current Inter, how many people have intersections with that Triple Crown Kingdom Mi?
Then, let's take a look at the journey of Manchester City and Inter Milan to reach the Champions League final last season. It can be said that Manchester City's process of reaching the final is harder and more convincing, because they got a difficult copy. What else can we say about the quarter-finals and the semi-finals against Bayern and Real Madrid? And what about Inter? Since they qualified from the group, they have met Porto and Benfica successively, and it was not until the semi-finals that they met their rivals Milan. It can be said that the road to the knockout round, Inter Milan obtained, can not be said to be a simple copy, but at least the difficulty is much lower than Manchester City.
The same has been true for Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund this season. After Real Madrid eliminated RB Leipzig, it met Manchester City and Bayern Munich successively, is it difficult? Borussia Dortmund, on the other hand, eliminated PSV Eindhoven and then were placed in the considered weaker half of the quarter-finals draw. It's true that Atletico Madrid is difficult to entangle, and Grand Paris is also strong, but change positions and let Dortmund try to play Manchester City and Bayern? You ask them if they're willing to change?
In addition, Dortmund, as well as Inter Milan last season, both broke through from the group of death, which is admirable. It is not easy for Dortmund to compete with Paris, Milan and Newcastle United to get the top spot. And although Inter couldn't beat Bayern at that time, at least Barcelona was cleaned up.
With so many similarities, will this final evolve into last season's final? Remember the Manchester City and Inter matches? Before the game, everyone thought that Manchester City would crush Inter on the field, and Inter could only fight back, but in fact, Inter once suppressed Manchester City and made Manchester City breathless. Obviously, for Inter, in the final stage of last season, they probably studied Manchester City every day, and they studied it thoroughly. If Manchester City is in the light, Inter is in the dark. Therefore, the game played out completely different than we imagined. Because Inter Milan, which is in a weak position, if they want to win the game, they must be alive and unexpected.
The same is true for this season's finals. Dortmund's study of Real Madrid is certainly more thorough than Real Madrid's study of Dortmund. In this final, Dortmund is likely to live, otherwise, it will be basically useless to follow the rules. So, it is also possible that the game will evolve into a surprise for Dortmund and dominate at some stage; However, in the end, Real Madrid can still rely on the individual ability of a certain player to solve the problem.
Therefore, it is not ruled out that the score of this game is still 1:0.
Next, let's wait and see.