The Champions League: Finals
Omar Mahmoud
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Here it is. The finale. The pinnacle of European Football is on the horizon: the climax of all that has occurred this season. By far one of the most entertaining UCL seasons ever. Shocks, thrashings, comebacks, everything was featured.
Newcastle, Milan, Atletico, Man City, Bayern, Real, Arsenal, PSG, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Leipzig, Dortmund and more. Copenhagen, Young Boys, Galatasaray, PSV, Feyenoord, Benfica, Sevilla. Celtic, Lens, Lazio, Belgrade, Shahktar, Antwerp, Man Utd, Braga, Berlin, were the small teams that blessed us with their shocks and wins this year.
And now it comes to an end.
Real Madrid vs Dortmund:
The Final
June 1st
Wembley
3 PM Eastern Time
Two teams that deserve to be here through and through.
On one hand, the GOAT’S of the UCL; 14 Titles, Knocked out Manchester City, the titleholders, and, by far the best team in the world right now. The strong Bavarians, Bayern Munich, who are in their weakest form in years yet put up a fight and barely lost (with unfairness by the way, but that is for later). Went out of their group with a full 18 out of 18 possible points.Won the La Liga already with 4 games to spare. They are the clear favourite of this game.
But, on the other hand, you have the underdogs. They were placed in a group of death
PSG, champions of France.
AC Milan, Italian Powerhouses
Newcastle, a new, strong, determined team
How many people counted them out? How many people said that there was no way they would get even 3rd, and would crash out of the UCL.
And, yet, they topped their group.
In the round of 16, after they were drawn against the Dutch League Leaders, PSV, unbeaten to that point, I said I would not make predictions, but everyone expected PSV to win.
Dortmund beat them.
Quarter Finals: Spanish giants Atletico Madrid. Even I said after seeing Madrid’s beautiful play against Inter Milan that Atletico would win. Deep down I wanted Dortmund to win, but I was not expecting it.
Dortmund made a comeback in the 2nd leg and qualified
PSG, the hardest challenge to that point. A team they had already topped in their group, but they had not yet beaten. By far the biggest shock Dortmund had. Not a single soul (other than me and their steadfast fans) expected Dortmund to make it, and yet they beat them over both legs, 1-0 in each leg.
And here they are.
If it is not clear who I am supporting, let me tell you now.
Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund
Real Madrid :
Real Madrid played Dortmund’s German rivals Bayern Munich. Bayern played the first leg and drew 2-2 with Madrid. When they went to the second leg, they started off really strong, and actually scored a goal in the 2nd half. They blocked Real Madrid well. But, in typical Madrid fashion, a goal from a substitute in the 89th and 91st minute meant that they were leading 2-1 to the last seconds and were on track to win the game. And they did, despite late drama and controversy with a Bayern goal unfairly cancelled. But that is another story.
There are also multiple other factors to consider.
Dortmund has a player, a midfielder, named Marco Reus. Let us just say he is the definition of loyalty. 12 years at the club, did not win the league once as Bayern was too dominant, and was always so close but too far. This time, he has the chance to win a major title, something to say goodbye to his boyhood club with and on his last game as well.
Beautiful story.
Basically every neutral fan is supporting Dortmund, even their rivals Bayern. No one likes Madrid except their fans. Actually, I kind of like Real Madrid. Not this year though, not against the legend Reus
Europa League
To quickly wrap up, the Europa League final is going on as well: Leverkusen vs Atalanta. Leverkusen officially finished the league unbeaten and if they win this game, and win their cup final, they officially win an unbeaten treble. Something that has never happened before.
Europa Conference League
In addition, the Conference League final is happening in Athens, with Olympiacos vs Fiorentina. Fiortentinva is going to their 2nd final in 2 years, after losing last year to West Ham. This year I am honestly expecting them to lose again as Athens is Olympiacos’ home country. They definitely have a home advantage. The biggest shock was favourites Aston Villa losing to the Greek team, 2-4 and 2-0 in both legs.
So, that’s it guys. There are no more articles this month in this series. We talked about the different stages of the tournament, we discussed favourites, odds, predictions, background, so much stuff. It was really nice to talk about it. Make sure to check out my other articles featured in this month’s issue on the summer tournaments.
This is Omar Mahmoud signing off
Make sure to check out my previous articles in the series.
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