Champions League final: Real Madrid seals 15th European Cup after 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund

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Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior celebrates at the end of the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. Real Madrid won 2-0. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

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Players trhow Real Madrid’s head coach Carlo Ancelotti in the air after winning the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

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Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal during the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

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Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior, second from left, scores his side’s 2nd goal during the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

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Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Sunday, June 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

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Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal scores his side’s opening goal during the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

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Real Madrid’s head coach Carlo Ancelotti sits on the bench during the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

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American singer-songwriter Lenny Kravitz, center, performs on the pitch before the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

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Lenny Kravitz performs ahead of the the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

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Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham reacts during the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)

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Dortmund’s Marcel Sabitzer, second left, and stewards chase a pitch invader during the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

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Real Madrid fans watch on screens at Santiago Bernabeu stadium the Champions League final soccer match between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul White)

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Real Madrid’s Antonio Ruediger, left, clears the ball ahead of Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho during the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

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Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi, center, gets past Real Madrid’s goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, on the ground, but takes the ball too far wide to score during the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Sunday, June 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

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Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck, left, tries to tackle Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham during the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

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Dortmund’s Niclas Fuellkrug, left, attempts a shot at goal and hits the post in front of Real Madrid’s goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois during the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

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Real Madrid’s goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, left, makes a save in front Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi during the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

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Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi, reacts after failing to score during the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Sunday, June 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

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Real Madrid’s players celebrate with the trophy after winning the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

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Real Madrid players and staff pose with the trophy after winning the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Sunday, June 2, 2024. Real Madrid won 2-0. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

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Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham celebrates at the end of the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. Real Madrid won 2-0. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

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Real Madrid’s head coach Carlo Ancelotti is thrown in the air by his players at the end of the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. Real Madrid won 2-0. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

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Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior celebrates with the trophy after winning the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Sunday, June 2, 2024. Real Madrid won 2-0. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

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Real Madrid’s players pose with the trophy after winning the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. Real Madrid won 2-0. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

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Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal holds the ‘player of the match’ trophy after the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. Real Madrid won 2-0. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)

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Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham bites his medal walking by the trophy after winning the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, June 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

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Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal shows the trophy to the supporters after winning the Champions League final soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Wembley stadium in London, Sunday, June 2, 2024. Real Madrid won 2-0. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

By JAMES ROBSON

LONDON (AP) — In an explosion of gold and silver confetti, Real Madrid held aloft the Champions League trophy for a record-extending 15th time on Saturday.

The most familiar sight in European club soccer’s greatest competition felt as fresh as ever after a 2-0 win against Borussia Dortmund in the final at Wembley Stadium.

“Getting used to it? Never,” said Carlo Ancelotti, who extended his own record of wins as a coach to five. “The dream continues.”

A white wall of Madrid fans at one end of the stadium serenaded their conquering heroes after goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior sealed the victory.

A predictable result came in less than predictable circumstances after Dortmund dominated the chances in the first half.

“It was a very difficult game, much more difficult than we had expected,” Ancelotti said. “We changed things because in the first half we were a bit lazy.”

Carvajal headed Madrid in front in the 74th minute and Vinicius doubled the Spanish giant’s lead nine minutes later.

Ancelotti’s fifth Champions League title was his third in two spells with Madrid and two more than his closest rivals Zinedine Zidane, Pep Guardiola and Bob Paisley.

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Carvajal, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Nacho won the trophy a sixth time to equal the benchmark set by Madrid icon Paco Gento.

Madrid’s win comes just a year after Manchester City lifted the trophy for the first time, a victory many believed would herald a new era of dominance for Guardiola’s team in Europe. Instead, it was Ancelotti who underlined his case to be considered the finest coach of his generation for his continued supremacy in the Champions League.

As well as three titles with Madrid, he was a two-time winner with AC Milan. He also lifted the Spanish title this season - his sixth league championship won in five different countries.

Madrid’s dominance of the competition defies belief, having won more than double than anyone else. Milan is the second most successful club with seven.

Madrid has won nine titles in the Champions League era and this was its second in three seasons.

“This is the love story between Real Madrid and the European Cup. Players come, players go, but we can say that this is our competition,” Madrid president Florentino Perez said.

Its dominance will take some breaking with Kylian Mbappe widely expected to join as a free agent from Paris Saint-Germain during the offseason and Brazil’s rising start Endrick on his way.

Not that Perez would confirm Mbappe’s arrival.

“You can ask me as many times as you want, but I am only going to talk about the players that are on Real Madrid’s team,” he said. “And above all today, when we just won a European Cup. These are the players who deserve all the praise.

“The future? We will have to talk about that at some other point.”

Ancelotti, though, is already thinking about the future.

“In this club there is constant demand. It is never satisfied,” he said. “We will come back with same eagerness and with same excitement and anticipation as before.”

Dortmund paid the price for not making the most of its first half superiority when Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois pulled off a series of saves and Niclas Fullkrug hit the post.

Madrid took full advantage after the break when Carvajal met Kroos’ corner at the near post to power a header past Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel.

Vinicius fired past Kobel to make it 2-0 and raced off in celebration after his goal killed off Dortmund hopes of pulling off one of the biggest Champions League upsets in recent memory. Later, Vinicius celebrated and posed for selfies with rapper Jay-Z, who was in the crowd of 86,000.

It was the second time Dortmund has lost in the final, having been beaten by Bayern Munich in 2013 when the showpiece occasion was also staged at Wembley.

Its only win in the competition was in 1997, but for a long time, the German side looked capable of halting Madrid after dominating the chances in the first half.

Coach Edin Terzic tactically outmanoeuvred Ancelotti in every department, and Madrid’s stars were subdued.

Only a combination of Courtois and the frame of the goal kept the scores level at the break after the keeper twice kept Karim Adeyemi from scoring and then watched as Fullkrug’s sliding effort came back off the post.

“There was the momentum when the game turned around and you see why they are the champions of this competition,” Terzic said. “We couldn’t manage to score and that was the key why we didn’t manage to win the game.”

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer