The Champions League: the world’s most prestigious European soccer tournament. The stage is set: Dortmund vs. Real Madrid. The favorites are no doubt Real Madrid according to fans, but Dortmund is the more likable team according to non-Madrid fans. “I’m really hoping for Dortmund to win, but I know Madrid probably will,” sophomore Andrew Lord said.
However, before we can understand the final on June 1, we must see how each team got here, and how the tournament has unfolded.
The group stage started on Sep. 19 and ended on Dec. 13. In between this time, eight groups battled among themselves to determine the top two teams in each group, which is what teams need to do to go through to the round of 16. Starting in Group A, two of the most popular teams battled it out, Manchester United and Bayern Munich. In a surprise to fans, Manchester United failed to make it through, accumulating just four points (three points for a win, one point for a tie, and zero for a loss) and placing last in their group. Bayern had no issues going through, going undefeated – winning five games and tying one. The other team that went through was Copenhagen, with eight points.
Group B ended up similar to Group A, with three well-known teams compared to Group A’s two. The most popular club in the group didn’t struggle at all: Arsenal secured 13 points and a first-place finish. Second and third place ended up being decided by just one point, with PSV, one of the most popular teams in the Netherlands, going through with nine points, and Lens missing out on the knockout rounds with eight points. To the surprise of fans all around the globe, Sevilla, one of the biggest clubs in Spain, failed to pick up a single win, and ended up last in the group with just two points, both coming from ties.
Group C housed the 21/22 Champions League winners, who had no trouble placing first in their group. Real Madrid was one of two teams to win all six group-stage matches in this year’s Champions League. In second sat Napoli, with a comfortable lead in third place. Napoli only lost two games, both coming against Real Madrid. In third sat Braga with four points, and in fourth sat Union Berlin, with just two points.
Group D ended up similar to Group C, with two teams going through easily. Real Sociedad and Inter Milan both went through with 12 points, however, Real Sociedad ended up in first due to head-to-head goal differential with Inter Milan. Both Benfica and RB Salzburg failed to go through with just four points each.
In Group E, Atlético de Madrid went through in first with 14 points, four wins and two draws. In second came Lazio, at 10 points with three wins, one draw and two losses. Feyenoord came in third with six points and the Scottish giants Celtic failed to even place in the top three, finishing in fourth with only four points.
Group F is widely regarded as the group of death, the term the hardest group gets each year. This group housed the likes of the French giants PSG and the up-and-coming Newcastle. Also in this group sat Dortmund and AC Milan, both clubs of equal stature to the others. First sat Dortmund, with 11 points. In second came PSG, with the same number of points as third place, AC Milan. Because of the head-to-head goal differential, AC Milan ended up knocked out of the Champions League after making the semi-finals last year. Newcastle ended up in last, with a respectable five points in the group of death.
Group G held the reigning Champions League champions, Manchester City. Man City, along with Real Madrid, were the only two teams to win all six group-stage matches. In second with no contest came RB Leipzig, sitting at 12 points, only dropping two games to the eventual group champions Man City. Youngboys, the Swedish giant, finished in third place, beating and then drawing with the eventual bottom dwellers, Crvena Zvezda, who only finished with one point, from the draw for Youngboys.
Group H held one of the most historic clubs in history, Barcelona. Barcelona ended up finishing in first with 12 points, the same number as second place, Porto, although Barca ended in first because of head-to-head goal differential. Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk ended in third place, with nine points. In last, sat Antwerp, with only three points from one win.
The excitement only continued with the round of 16. There was no shortage of close games, however, there were games that weren’t close at all, like Bayern vs. Lazio, in which Bayern won 3-1 on aggregate. PSG knocked out Real Sociedad 4-1 on aggregate, and with little surprise to anyone, Man City knocked out Copenhagen 6-2 on aggregate. Barcelona knocked out Napoli comfortably, 4-2 on aggregate, and Dortmund knocked out PSV 3-1.
There were three close games in the round of 16, the first of which was Real Madrid vs. RB Leipzig. The first leg, held in Leipzig, ended 1-0 in favor of Real Madrid. The second leg, at the historic Bernabéu, ended 1-1, leaving the aggregate at 2-1 in favor of Madrid. The next close game involved Arsenal and Porto. The first leg, in Porto, ended up 1-0 in favor of Porto, surprising everyone. The second leg, held in North London, ended up 1-0 in favor of the Gunners, thanks to a 41st-minute goal from Arsenal player Leandro Trossard. This left the draw 1-1 on aggregate, meaning penalty kicks. Arsenal had no trouble with the high stakes, and won the penalty shootout 4-2, earning their spot in the quarter-finals. The last close draw involved Atletico Madrid vs. Inter Milan. The first leg favored the home team, Inter Milan, as Marko Arnautovic scored in the 79th minute, giving the advantage to Inter Milan going into the second leg in Madrid. The second leg started off with a goal from Inter Milan in the 33rd minute, putting the score 2-0 on aggregate, however, Atletico would respond with a goal of their own just two minutes later, and in crunch time, would score again in the 87th minute to bring the draw to 2-2 on aggregate, and bring it to pens. Atletico Madrid squeezed past Inter Milan in penalties, winning the shootout 3-2.
The quarter finals ended up being the best round so far this year according to fans. “This quarter finals was definitely my favorite in a long time,” sophomore Amad Sangare said.
The draws: Arsenal v. Bayern, Real Madrid v. Man City, PSG v. Barcelona, and Atletico v. Dortmund. Starting with Arsenal v. Bayern, the first leg was held in North London, giving Arsenal a huge advantage, however, they were unable to capitalize on the advantage as it ended all even at two, going into the second leg in Germany, in front of the Bayern faithful. Near the beginning of the second half, Bayern star Joshua Kimmich scored in the 63rd minute, giving them the advantage on aggregate. Despite Arsenal’s best efforts, they were unable to equalize, ending their European campaign and extending Bayern’s.
Next up is Real Madrid vs. Manchester City, a rematch of last year’s semifinals, where City knocked out Madrid with ease, and would go on to win it all. Starting with the first leg, in Madrid, neither team seemed to have an edge over the other, ending 3-3, and bringing the second leg to Manchester. In the second leg, Madrid scored just 12 minutes into the match, thanks to Rodrygo, however, late in the second half, Kevin De Bruyne equalized, which led to the match ending all square at one. Due to mistakes from City, Real Madrid won the shootout 4-3 and advanced to the semi-finals.
PSG v. Barcelona started off hot, with a goal from Barcelona player Raphina, who gave his team the advantage in a hostile away environment. PSG came out hungry after the half, scoring two goals with succession, just two minutes apart, giving them the 2-1 lead. Raphina would then score later in the match, and Andreas Christensen would put the nail in the coffin, with a 77th-minute game-winner. The second leg in Barcelona would see Barcelona extend their lead on aggregate in just the 12th minute of the match, with another goal from Raphina. In the 29th minute, Barcelona defender Ronald Araújo would be sent off with a hotly debated red card, which would prove to be the difference. Ousmane Dembélé, a former Barcelona player scored in the 40th minute, which would be followed up by a goal by Vitinha, equalizing the draw on aggregate, however, PSG wouldn’t stop there. Kylian Mbappé converted a pen less than 10 minutes later, and would also score another goal to put the final score at 4-1, and 6-2 on aggregate, in favor of PSG.
Lastly, for the quarter-finals: Atletico v. Dortmund battled it out for a spot in the semifinals. Atletico took a commanding 2-0 lead in the first half, however, Sébastien Haller would get a goal back for Dortmund, near the end of the match. The second leg, held at Dortmund, would prove to be the polar opposite. Dortmund quickly scored two goals unanswered to start the match and went into halftime up 2-0. Atletico would get an own goal to begin the second half to tie it up on aggregate and then scored another goal in the 64th minute to give them the lead on aggregate, however, it wouldn’t last for long. Dortmund would score in the 71st minute to tie the draw up and then would score again just three minutes later to give them the lead on aggregate, which is how the final score would end up, with Dortmund advancing.
With just four teams left, it’s officially semi-final time. The opponents are Bayern v. Real Madrid, and Dortmund v. PSG. The first leg saw Real Madrid traveling to Munich to face Bayern. Despite a dominant first half by the home team, Bayern saw themselves down by one thanks to a goal by the young star Vinicius Junior. However, Bayern came out of halftime firing on all Cylinders, with Leroy Sané scoring a goal just eight minutes into the half. Just four minutes later Bayern would earn a penalty kick, which Harry Kane would slot in, completely turning the tide of the game and giving Bayern a much-deserved lead. Toward the end of the second half, Real Madrid player Rodrygo would earn a penalty kick as well, one which Vinicius Junior would step up to take. Calmly, Vinicius Junior slotted it in, tying the game at two, and bringing the draw to 2-2 going into the second leg at the historic Bernabéu. The beginning of the second leg looked nothing like the first, Bayern came out asleep and Real Madrid took full advantage, creating chance after chance, somehow not getting a goal in the first 45 minutes. Around halfway through the second half, it would be Bayern who would score first, with Canadian international Alphonso Davies scoring a beautiful goal. The game would remain that way until the 88th minute, where a shot from Vinicius Junior bounced off the chest of Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neur, which landed right at the feet of Joselu, who converted it in to tie the game right before added time. Just three minutes later a cross from Rudiger would find Joselu’s feet, and he would score another to send Real Madrid to Wembley. Fans of Real Madrid thought it was a well deserved victory. “I’m really excited to see Madrid go to another final,” sophomore Jerimiah Lee said.
The other draw saw Dortmund and PSG battle it out for a spot at Wembley. The first leg was held in front of the yellow wall, which is what the Dortmund supporters section is called. Despite an even game, an outstanding long ball over the top of the PSG defenders set Niclas Füllkrug up for a one-on-one with the goalie, which he scored giving Dortmund the advantage before halftime. No other goals would occur, and PSG had a 1-0 hole going into the second leg in Paris. PSG took advantage of the crowd to start the second leg, with a dominant performance through the first 20 minutes. Eventually, Dortmund found their footing and started to push back and create some chances of their own. Despite what turned into a back-and-forth first half, the half ended all square at zero. Going into the path PSG knew they had a lot of work to do, due to being down 1-0 on aggregate. PSG had no choice but to take risks during the second half, however, that ended up playing to Dortmund’s advantage, as they scored, moving the draw to 2-0 on aggregate. Despite PSG having an astonishing thirty shots compared to Dortmund’s seven, Dortmund still found a way to put one in the net, and as a result, punch their spot in the 23/24 Champions League Final at Wembley.
