UEFA Champions Leagues: Review of The Final and The 2023/2024 Season
The Final of the UEFA Champions League 2023/2024 was great, at least in my opinion. From the semifinals to the final, it was spectacular to see the teams compete for the win. However, what did the season’s overall results feel like?
Before all of that, let’s take a peek at the two teams!
Borussia Dortmund
Yes, Terzic’s Dortmund managed to get the final. In the semifinals, they don’t look good. But, compared to PSG, the Germans were looking better and better. PSG couldn’t hack them and that’s how they did it throughout their UCL campaign. They have an amazing defense but lack in the final third on certain parts of the games.
However, with how their campaign for every other league game went so bad this season, this is their only chance to redeem themselves.
Real Madrid
At the start of the season, they are one of the winning candidates along with Manchester City, Bayern Munich, and Arsenal. Still, they are a team that still lacks in defense and sometimes struggles in the final third without a proper starting striker. It was evident at the game against Bayern Munich. However, you could tell that Bayern Munich aren’t taking their chances when it was supposed to happen if you play against Real Madrid. Well, it’s the story of the Bavarian’s season.
With all due respect, Real Madrid is still one of the teams that historically get it on a European night. This is cementing that the current players also understand that and want to win more for the club.
The Final
In Wembley, as homegrown talent, Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham and Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho, a loanee from Manchester United, are some of the players that were the talk of the town.
However, it must be noted that everyone was talking about Marco Reus. Reus has been a loyal player of the club and a lot of people wanted him to win this trophy for the first time. On the other side, Toni Kroos just announced his retirement from club football days before the final. These two created some of the talks before the final.
Apart from that, there’s talk about Kylian Mbappe’s transfer to Real Madrid. As of now, it was officially declared that the France Team Captain will be the new number 9 of the Los Blancos.
There’s also a bunch of talk about Real Madrid’s starting eleven for the final. With Courtois and Militao back from their injury, will they play instead of Lunin and Nacho? In the end, Lunin got the flu and Militao was deemed not fit enough to play the final.
It needs to also be highlighted how a lot of things were set up as if Real Madrid would definitely win, especially with Zidane and Mourinho in attendance. But, if you watch the game, Dortmund was actually better than Real Madrid. In particular, Karim Adeyemi is a serious threat to the Real Madrid defense. It was a shame that Edin Terzic didn’t see that and subbed him out for Reus early in the second half.
At that time, I wonder how Real Madrid will not win it. Then, yes, they indeed won it with a beautiful goal by Dani Carvajal which was assisted by Kroos from a corner-kick. Later on, Vini Jr. managed to score the second goal after a horrendous mistake by Ian Maatsen.
That substitution, I think, was also the cause of the ending of Edin Terzic’s tenure at Borussia Dortmund, especially after what happened last year at the final game of the Bundesliga.
All in all, Real Madrid’s experience, players’ individual ability, and Ancelotti’s tactic played a good part in winning this UCL. Congratulations to Real Madrid!
Review of The 2023/2024 UEFA Champions League
So, how was the season? I think it could be considered an exciting season overall, especially since the Quarterfinals.
At the start of the season, the most entertainment that the fans got was from the drama at Group A and F. Manchester United, a team that was favored to at least get second in Group A, was somehow out of every European competition. Other than that, the group of death, consisting of Dortmund, PSG, AC Milan, and Newcastle, was sometimes entertaining to watch as well.
The Round of 16 itself was so predictable. However, because of this, we got quality match after match from the quarterfinals onward. You will get a lot of roller coaster when watching most of these matches. It’s insane!
Then, what about the final? I loved the finals because it was mostly just pure play from both of the teams. The back-and-forth gave drama and both teams were relentless.
With these results, I will say that Vini Jr. is a seriously big game player and he is enjoyable to watch. If Brazil can hack their struggles at the Copa America, this man should win the Ballon d’Or.
In conclusion, I am really happy that the last season of this current format was a success. I am not a fan of the new format but we shall see what it could bring later on. But, for now, enjoy the next football matches coming your way soon!
Final Thought: I am genuinely overwhelmed by a lot of things that I forgot to update my UCL review. But, hey, it’s here before the Euro ends. I love how the ending of the UCL for this season and I know I’m going to miss this format a lot.
Besides that, I want to highlight how much I loved doing these reviews and how I enjoyed them so much. I like to do this again for the next season if I can because it helps me reflect on my point of view of the game. But, for now, I am excited about my summer of sports. I planned to watch and do some review of it. And, if you like watching sports as much as I am, have a happy summer as well!
