Dortmund will be seeking their second European title in today’s Champions League final at Wembley, where they face 14-time tournament winners Real Madrid.
For today’s Champions League final against Real Madrid, all the indications are that Borussia Dortmund head coach Edin Terzic will make no changes to the team that beat Paris Saint-Germain home and away in the semi-finals.
How will Dortmund line up against Real Madrid?
Barring any surprises, Gregor Nobel will start in goal, behind a centre-back pairing of Nico Schlotterbeck and Mats Hummel, who did such an tremendous job of shackling PSG striker Kylian Mbappé in the last four. The full-backs will be Julian Ryerson and Ian Maatsen, two players who have throughout the Champions League campaign have shown their willingness to push forward and join in the Dortmund attack.
In midfield, Emre Can will sit in front of the back four to break up the play or launch attacks, depending on which team has the ball. Marcel Sabitzer and Julian Brandt will be tasked with pulling the creative strings for Dortmund, with the latter without doubt the Germans’ most inventive player in the final third. On the wings, Karim Adeyemi and Jadon Sancho will look to bring plenty of penetration to the attack and provide service to Dortmund’s powerful centre-forward, Niclas Füllkrug.
There can be few doubts about what Dortmund’s game plan will be: the underdogs will look to remain a solid defensive unit when out of possession - and when they win the ball back, will try to make the most of the speedy attacking transitions that characterise this team.
Borussia Dortmund’s possible line-up vs Real Madrid:
Kobel, Ryerson, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Maatsen, Sabitzer, Can, Brandt, Sancho, Füllkrug, Adeyemi.
Dortmund’s expected substitutes bench:
Lotka, Meyer, Süle, Nmecha, Özcan, Wätjen, Reus, Wolf, Bynoe-Gittens, Haller, Malen, Moukoko.
Borussia Dortmund vs Real Madrid: start time, how to watch
The 2024 UEFA Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid will be played today, Saturday 1 June 2024, at Wembley Stadium in London, UK. Kick-off is scheduled for 8pm local time, which in the US is 3pm ET/12 noon PT. Viewers in the US will be able to watch the showpiece event on CBS, Univisión, TUDN USA, Paramount+ and ViX. Your streaming options also include fuboTV, which offers new users a free trial.
Who will the referee, VAR be at Wembley?
Slovenia’s Slavko Vincic will be the match referee in the UK capital, and countrymen Tomaz Klancnik and Andraz Kovacic will be his assistant referees. The fourth official will be the Frenchman François Letexier. The Slovenian Nejc Kajtazovic will be the video assistant referee (VAR), and the assistant VAR will be his compatriot Rade Obrenovic.