Real Madrid vs Dortmund live updates: Champions League final ...

Michael Dominski

June 1, 2024 at 5:00 AM EDT

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Real Madrid are the bookmakers’ favourites to win today’s game and, perhaps in that knowledge, Carlo Ancelotti spent much of his pre-match press conference at Wembley yesterday urging his side not to take today’s game lightly.

“A Champions League final is the most important game and the most dangerous one,” Ancelotti said. “It is a double-edged sword, we need to enjoy it to the maximum, and then concern starts that it could go wrong because we are so close to the most important thing in football, which is winning a Champions League.

“There is a fear, a concern out of that. It is a feeling we all have inside. We have extreme happiness, but you have to be a bit lucky, play well and never lower your guard but when you reach a final success is so close that you start worrying.

“It is going to start tonight, tomorrow morning, tomorrow afternoon. A lot of fear, it is normal. If you have more fear you will be happier if you are able to win in the end.”

Dortmund have been able to keep their squad relatively fresh as they have only had this Champions League campaign to focus on in the last few weeks.

Their only fitness issue concerns AFCON winner Sebastian Haller who has recently returned to training after an ankle injury. Fortunately, that should not be too much of an issue for the Germans who have leaned heavily on first-choice striker Niclas Fullkrug during their run to the final.

Julian Brandt made way for the departing Marco Reus in the final game of the Bundesliga season, but he is likely to come back into the starting XI in place of the veteran today.

Two high-profile absentees for Real Madrid in today's Champions League final.

David Alaba has not played a game in 2024 owing to an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) that has also ruined any plans he had of featuring at Euro 2024 for Austria.

French midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni will be hopeful of playing tournament football in a couple of weeks' time, but he too will have to watch on from the stands today after sustaining a foot injury earlier this month.

Second-choice goalkeeper Andriy Lunin travelled to London separately from his team-mates due to an illness he picked up, but No. 1 Thibaut Courtois is available to make just his fifth — and, by far, most important — appearance of the season.

Wembley stands clear as the stadium to host most Champions League final with seven, ahead of five stadiums that have hosted it four times.

Barcelona are the only team to have won twice on the biggest stage at Wembley, while Benfica are the only team to have been beaten twice here.

Dortmund supporters will need no reminder of their last visit to Wembley when they were beaten in an all-German final by Bayern Munich. Despite their Champions League pedigree, today is the first time Real Madrid have featured in a final played in England.

Capacity: 90,000

I might be biased, but I don't think there are many better places to play a game of this magnitude than Wembley.

Today's game marks the eighth time the Champions League (formerly European Cup) final has been played at the home of English football.

Dortmund fans will remember the last one played here, back in 2013...

Here are your viewing options for Real Madrid vs Dortmund depending on where you live:

The game between Real Madrid and Dortmund gets underway at 8pm local time (BST).

For those of you in the States, that is 3pm ET/12pm PT.

Hello and welcome to The Athletic’s live coverage of European football’s showpiece event: The Champions League final.

Two of Europe’s biggest clubs meet today at arguably the continent’s most storied stadium for the biggest prize. It is Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund at Wembley, the 14-time winners against the once champions.

La Liga Player of the Season and Ballon d’Or contender Jude Bellingham faces the club who helped build him as he sits on the cusp of one of the greatest debut seasons in history. His former team-mate Marco Reus sits in the other dressing room looking to close out a legendary 12-year tenure at Dortmund with the biggest trophy in club football.

So will the record winners do what they do best? Or will their German opponents shock Europe and the world with a famous win under the arch?

Stick with us throughout the course of the day for all the build up to the biggest game on the club calendar.