Carlo Ancelotti called the Champions League final the “most dangerous” game of the season on the eve of Real Madrid facing Borussia Dortmund as overwhelming favourites to win their sixth European Cup in a decade and the 15th in their history.
The Italian denied the competition was an “obsession” for the club, admitted there would be fear in the hours before kick-off and insisted their campaign should be defined as “successful whatever happens” at Wembley. “The obsession is to try to do your best, as we have all season; sometimes it doesn’t go the way you want,” he said.
Ancelotti, who is making his eighth appearance in a European Cup final, six as a coach and two as a player, confirmed Thibaut Courtois would start in goal. Despite not having played a minute in the competition after a torn cruciate ligament in August, the Belgian was likely to be chosen ahead of Andriy Lunin and any doubt was removed when the Ukrainian caught flu and had to be isolated from the team. Lunin is expected to land in London on Saturday morning. “He will be on the bench,” Ancelotti said.
Madrid have not lost the past eight European Cup finals they have played, going back to their meeting with Liverpool in 1981. In none of those have they been considered such clear favourites.
Having defeated Manchester City and Bayern Munich en route, they face surprise finalists who had been widely regarded in Spain as the weakest of the eight quarter-finalists. Although Ancelotti and his players have talked about the “confidence” and “calmness” that surrounds the team, they have been keen to stress they are taking nothing for granted, admitting there will be nerves.
Ancelotti joked that he had told the striker Joselu, who scored two dramatic late goals to win the semi-final: “It’s your fault we’re not on holiday.” He also said, more seriously: “The final is the most important game but also the most dangerous. You have to enjoy being here, but then comes the worry that something will go wrong.
“You feel close, very, very close, to the most important thing in football. You fear it can escape you. It’s a feeling we all have. It is very hard to get here, and you feel success close so then there’s fear. That will start tonight, tomorrow morning, tomorrow afternoon. Lots of worry, lots of fear. That’s normal. When you go through that fear, if you win you’re even more happy.”
Luka Modric, sitting alongside Ancelotti, said: “Perfect; I’ve got nothing to add to that” – and got up to head on to the Wembley pitch for Madrid’s last training session.
Modric, the Madrid captain Nacho Fernández, Dani Carvajal and Toni Kroos are one game from joining Paco Gento on a record six European Cup wins. Yet they followed Ancelotti’s lead in insisting that they do not think it is done, still less that they are invincible – even if it sometimes looks that way in this competition.
Nacho, asked if this was the calmest they had felt before a game, replied: “Pfff, compared to what? I can tell you that this is the least calm game there has been this season; there are more nerves. We are people, after all. It’s a final, it’s special and so there is uneasiness. Anyone who likes football knows Madrid are very special in this competition; the numbers say so, it’s nothing that has been invented. It’s a very special competition for this club but also a great responsibility.”
It was put to Modric and Nacho that they would be calm even if they were losing in the 85th minute – an idea that might have been daft had it not been two Real Madrid players sitting at the front of the room, given their extraordinary capacity for late comebacks.
“We would rather be in the lead – it might not look like it, but we suffer on the pitch,” Nacho said.
Modric said: “Years ago, it would have been unthinkable that we could reach [Gento], but we’re here. We’re very happy, enjoying this. Hopefully we can take that extra step as a team. Having six European Cups would be something incredible.”
