Los Blancos have now won six of the last 11 European titles available, and as their rivals head towards transition, they are only getting stronger
After Real Madrid hoisted their 15th European Cup on Saturday at Wembley, the club's veterans had one key piece of advice for 20-year-old first-timer Jude Bellingham. "Some of my team-mates have five or six titles, and they said enjoy your first as it's a feeling like no other when you reach the top of the mountain," he said following Los Blancos' 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
It was certainly a memorable final. Madrid, as is the case so often in the Champions League, were second best for long stretches. But they rode their luck, and after a handful of crucial saves from Thibaut Courtois and the fortune of Niclas Fullkrug hitting the post, they came alive. It took a corner, converted by the 5'7 Dani Carvajal, to help them find their stride, and Madrid saw out the last 20 minutes as Vinicius Jr provided the finishing touch.
Yet, despite the Dortmund pressure and the lack of quality from an often erratic Madrid side, there was something all so predictable about the outcome. Real Madrid win; it's just what they do.
They have now claimed six Champions League titles across the last 10 years – only three other clubs (AC Milan, Bayern Munich and Liverpool) can claim to have won as many European Cups in their entire history. This is what sporting dominance looks like.
The concern for their rivals is that there are few signs that Los Blancos' run will stop any time soon either. What was supposed to be a period of rebuilding has become a measured renewal. Madrid's best players are all in their prime – or slightly short of it – and with arguably the most electric forward in world football soon to enter the ranks while other clubs enter transitions of their own, Saturday's win may well go down as the start of another decade of continental superiority at Santiago Bernabeu.
GettyMagic moments
Madrid and European success have always been intrinsically connected. Even as they have battled Barcelona for La Liga supremacy, Los Blancos have always managed to make deep runs in Europe's premier club competition. And these signature dramatic wins aren't a new concept, either. It's easy to recall Joselu's match-winning double against Bayern Munich at the Bernabeu just a month ago, but that unlikely brace was one of a glut of dramatic moments.
Madrid's first title of the 21st century came back in 2001, when Zinedine Zidane powered a volley into the top corner to beat Bayer Leverkusen in the final at Hampden Park, but it wasn't until the generation spearheaded by Cristiano Ronaldo that won it four times in a span of five years that Los Blancos began to really produce moments of magic in the competition on a regular basis.
In 2014, it was Sergio Ramos' last-minute header in the final against Atletico Madrid that sent the game to extra-time, where Madrid dominated to the tune of a 4-1 win to secure their 10th European title, and end their long wait to secure 'La Decima'.
Two years later, they completed a similar feat, overturning a 2-0 deficit against Wolfsburg in the quarter-finals, before beating Atleti on penalties in the final. The year after, it was an extra-time victory over Bayern that sent them on their way to the final. In 2018, a famous Ronaldo bicycle kick against Juventus got the job done. And in 2022, a series of comebacks, spearheaded by the Ballon d'Or-winning Karim Benzema, secured title number 14.
Advertisement(C)Getty ImagesTrophy in transition
That was all supposed to be put on hold this season. Benzema's departure in the summer was central to fears that Madrid wouldn't quite be the same animal in 2023-24, as the Frenchman left for Saudi Arabia in surprising circumstances. And with Madrid unwilling to spend big on Kylian Mbappe so as to try sign him on a free 12 months in the future, they went into the season with no top-class striker to speak of.
Carlo Ancelotti, of course, made things work. Jude Bellingham became a No.10 whie Vinicius and Rodrygo pushed higher up the pitch. A midfield trio, led by a revitalised Toni Kroos, sat in behind them and controlled the tempo. Even injuries to David Alaba, Eder Militao and Thibaut Courtois could do little to slow them down.
That said, Madrid really should have exited the Champions League on two occasions. Manchester City battered them for 120 minutes at the Etihad Stadium in the quarter-final, but Los Blancos held on to send the game to penalties – and never looked like losing once it got there. Bayern, meanwhile, should have put them away in the semi, but 33-year-old Joselu – a failed Madrid academy player who returned on loan in the summer – scored twice in the final five minutes to turn the tie on its head.
In a season in which they were supposed to fall short, Madrid beat the two other best teams in the competition en route to the final.
Getty ImagesEntering their prime
Madrid now have a ridiculous array of talent at their disposal, and a frighteningly young squad to work with. Bellingham, of course, is the centre-piece, as he approaches his 21st birthday in June. Vinicius, who is now in pole position for the Ballon d'Or, is 23. Aurelien Tchouameni (24), Rodrygo (23) and Eduardo Camavinga (21) all have their best years in front of them, and make Federico Valverde and Militao look practically ancient at 25.
And then there are the talents who may yet come into the fold. Arda Guler impressed in a series of brief cameos towards the end of the season, and scored six goals in 377 La Liga minutes to round out the campaign. Fran Garcia, too, may yet get his moment in the XI, and is still 23. Brahim Diaz's future is less certain – he is perhaps too good to sit on the bench for too much longer – but he is still shy of his 24th birthday.
Piece it all together, and over half of Los Blancos' presumptive starting XI on the first day of the 2024-25 season will be under the age of 24.
(C)Getty ImagesMore on the way
Speaking to post-match at Wembley, Bellingham wouldn't quite confirm what the world already knew: that Mbappe would soon be joining him in the Madrid dressing room. But he did slyly acknowledge that there is perhaps a missing piece from this side: "We don’t know for sure if that will happen! But if it is the case, then it would be great… I think tonight we saw that the only thing we need is a real striker. I think if he came along and gave us that, it would take us to another level."
It is a good thing, then, for Bellingham and co, that the move seems to be on the verge of completion. Madrid have orchestrated Mbappe's arrival perfectly, setting up a reportedly agreeable salary for the player, while spreading his handsome €150 million (£128m/$162m) signing bonus out over a five-year period.
His arrival might not quite be perfect, as getting Mbappe into the team will require a tactical adjustment from everyone else. But this is a footballer who will quite comfortably score 30 goals in all competitions – and could easily hit 40. And if there ever was a manager to figure that all out while also keeping his current players happy, it's Ancelotti.
Though he will likely make less of an immediate impactful, a similarly exciting development is the much-anticipated arrival of Brazilian teenager Endrick this summer. The Palmeiras star has been dubbed 'the next Pele' in his homeland, and while that would certainly seem an unfair label for a player with just four Brazil caps, he has shown enough for club and country to suggest that he could be impactful in Madrid white for years to come.