Tag: Real Madrid

Real Madrid captain Luka Modric has signed a new one-year deal to keep him at the Santiago Bernabeu for the upcoming season, the European champions announced on Wednesday.

The 38-year-old midfielder extended his contract until June 30, 2025.

Modric has won six Champions League titles, La Liga four times and lifted the Copa del Rey twice with Real Madrid.

He has only started 37 times across the last two league seasons, but remains a key player for coach Carlo Ancelotti, having helped Los Blancos to a Champions League-La Liga double last term.

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Luka Modric became the oldest goalscorer in European Championship history last month when he netted for Croatia against Italy at Euro 2024, although he could not prevent the 2018 World Cup runners-up from suffering a group-stage exit.

“I’d like to keep playing forever but there will probably be a time I’ll have to hang up my boots,” Modric said after the agonising 1-1 draw with Italy which put Croatia out.

“I’ll keep playing on, I don’t know for how much longer.”

The news of Modric’s extension comes the day after new star signing Kylian Mbappe was presented to Madrid fans following his move from Paris Saint-Germain.

Madrid will kick off their league title defence at Real Mallorca on Sunday, August 18.

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MADRID: France’s superstar striker Kylian Mbappe on Tuesday, was officially unveiled as the Real Madrid player here at a packed Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Mbappe, who underwent his medical screening earlier on Tuesday morning, was roped in by the Spanish club on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) after his deal with the 12-time Ligue 1 champions ended.

He was presented a No. 9 shirt by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.

“Wow,” Mbappe said in Spanish to thousands of fans flocked in at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

“For years I’ve dreamed of playing for Real Madrid and today my dream has come true,” said Mbappe.

“I’m a happy boy. I’m going to give my life for this club,” he added.

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Notably, Real Madrid have been after Kylian Mbappe since 2017 but failed to reach an agreement with the World Cup-winning player on numerous occasions.

Mbappe had verbally agreed to move to Real in February this year and consequently announced in May that he would leave Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at the end of the Ligue 1 season.

“Real Madrid have reached an agreement for the player to be at Real Madrid for the next five seasons,” the club said in a statement.

Mbappe, who is estimated to earn 35 million euros ($38 million) a season, according to reports in Spain, said the move was “a dream come true”.

“So happy and proud to join the club of my dream [Real Madrid]. Nobody can understand how excited I am right now. Can’t wait to see you, Madridistas, and thanks for your unbelievable support,” Mbappe added.

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Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti denied on Monday that the Champions League winners would refuse to play in the expanded FIFA Club World Cup 2025, claiming comments he made to an Italian newspaper had been misinterpreted. 

“In my interview with Il Giornale, my words about the FIFA Club World Cup have not been interpreted in the way I intended,” Ancelotti posted on X.

“Nothing could be further from my interest than to reject the possibility of playing in a tournament that I consider to be a great opportunity to continue fighting for great titles with Real Madrid.”

Ancelotti had been quoted in Monday’s edition of Il Giornale saying that “players and clubs will not participate” in the new tournament.

“A single Real Madrid match is worth 20 million euros and FIFA wants to give us this amount for the entire Cup,” he is quoted as saying. “So no. Like us, other clubs will refuse the invitation.”

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Real Madrid, who last season won the La Liga title under Ancelotti as well as a 15th European Cup and Champions League title, were also quick to distance themselves from the remarks.

“Real Madrid C. F. would like to announce that at no time has there been any question regarding our participation in the new Club World Cup to be organised by FIFA in the coming 2024/2025 season,” the club said in a statement on its website.

“Our club will therefore take part, as planned, in this official competition and we are proud and excited to be involved in it and we will once again inspire our millions of fans all over the world with another trophy.”

The expanded 32-team Club World Cup is proposed to take place next summer, adding to an already congested calendar for players.

England’s Professional Footballers’ Association has warned FIFA that players could go on strike.

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Kylian Mbappe has signed a five-year deal to move to Real Madrid from Paris Saint-Germain, the Spanish club announced on Monday.

The announcement is the culmination of Real’s long courtship of one of the most prolific forwards in world football.

“Real Madrid have reached an agreement for the player to be at Real Madrid for the next five seasons,” the club said in a statement.

Mbappe, 25, said on social media the move was “a dream come true”.

“So happy and proud to join the club of my dream @realmadrid. Nobody can understand how excited I am right now. Can’t wait to see you, Madridistas, and thanks for your unbelievable support,” Mbappe added.

He will earn 35 million euros ($38 million) a season, according to reports in Spain.

Kylian Mbappe had verbally agreed to move to Real in February and then announced in May he would leave PSG at the end of the season.

Real Madrid, fresh from winning their 15th Champions League on Saturday with a 2-0 victory against Borussia Dortmund, moved to confirm the deal on Monday before Kylian Mbappe is involved in pre-Euro 2024 friendlies for France.

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A World Cup winner as a teenager in 2018, Mbappe scored a club record 256 goals for PSG since joining the Qatar-owned club from Monaco on an initial loan in 2017.

He eventually moved to PSG in a 180-million-euro ($195 million) deal — all at the age of 18.

Mbappe helped PSG to six Ligue 1 titles and steered them to the 2020 Champions League final, but they lost to Bayern Munich.

He scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final against Argentina in Qatar in 2022 but still finished on the losing side as Lionel Messi’s Argentina won on penalties.

PSG lavished huge sums to put Mbappe, Brazil star Neymar and Messi in the same team, hoping to finally unlock the Champions League puzzle. But the French club came up short.

As Kylian Mbappe’s fame has grown, so has his importance to both the French national team and France the country.

President Emmanuel Macron intervened to persuade him to stay at PSG in June 2022 when a move to Real seemed almost cut and dried.

At Real, who also won back the La Liga title from fierce rivals Barcelona this season, Mbappe will form a formidable attacking trio with Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr and England international midfielder Jude Bellingham.

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LONDON: Real Madrid withstood a Borussia Dortmund barrage to win the Champions League for the 15th time as Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior struck late in a 2-0 win at Wembley on Saturday.

Right-back Carvajal headed in from Toni Kroos’ corner on 74 minutes before Vinicius fired home to extend the Spanish giants’ record as the most successful club in Champions League history.

Madrid have now won their last nine European Cup finals and won the competition six times in the last 11 seasons.

However, not for the first time in that run, they had to rely on some good fortune as underdogs Dortmund were left to bitterly regret not making the most of their first-half chances.

Niclas Fuellkrug hit the post and Karim Adeyemi failed to convert a one-on-one with Thibaut Courtois.

Madrid, though, always seem to find a way in Europe’s elite competition and made more history in London.

“They left us alive with the game level and in the second half we started to play better,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti.

“This squad leaves me very satisfied because we don’t always play our best but we never give up.”

Carvajal, Kroos, Nacho and Luka Modric joined Real legend Paco Gento as the only players to win the European Cup six times.

Ancelotti also extended his record as the most successful coach in the competition’s history with his fifth title.

A record number of more than 2,500 stewards were in place at Wembley with the authorities keen to avoid a repeat of the violent scenes that marred the Euro 2020 final three years ago when ticketless fans stormed the turnstiles.

But further questions over the security operation will be raised as three pitch invaders were able to enter the field in the opening minutes of the game, with one taking photos alongside Jude Bellingham and Vinicius.

The Metropolitan Police said there had been 53 arrests, including five for pitch invasions.

Ancelotti said pre-match he felt “like a lion” after an afternoon siesta, but his side were caught napping for the first 45 minutes as, roared on by the travelling thousands from Germany, Borussia Dortmund dominated.

The decision to recall Courtois for his first Champions League appearance of the season after a serious knee injury paid dividends as the Belgian kept Real Madrid in the game.

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Dortmund’s best chances fell to Adeyemi as Carvajal could not deal with the German international’s pace.

A brilliant pass by Mats Hummels put Adeyemi clean through, but he took a heavy touch under pressure from Courtois and ran too wide before his shot was blocked by Carvajal.

Fuellkrug’s barrel-chested physique has made him a fan favourite in his first season at Dortmund.

The German international striker came closest to breaking the deadlock before half-time when his effort from Ian Maatsen’s through ball came back off the inside of the post.

Adeyemi was then denied once more by Courtois from a narrow angle and Fuellkrug could not twist his frame to turn in the rebound.

“We didn’t show the efficiency to score,” said Borussia Dortmund boss Edin Terzic.

“We were close to taking the lead but then there was a momentum shift where the game turned around and you see why they are the champions of this competition.”

Ancelotti, Nacho and Modric were keen to stress on the eve of the match that Madrid’s habit of finding a way to get over the line in the Champions League was no coincidence.

Having ridden their luck once more in the first half, the Spanish champions found their feet in the second period.

Gregor Kobel was finally forced into a save on 48 minutes from Kroos, who came close to marking the final game of his club career with a spectacular free-kick.

Bellingham was moulded into a world star during three years at Dortmund before leaving for Madrid 12 months ago for more than 100 million euros ($108 million).

The England international was inches away from biting the hand that used to feed him as he just could not get a telling touch on Vinicius’ teasing cross.

Madrid landed the decisive blow 16 minutes from time when Carvajal rose highest to head into Kroos’ corner.

Kobel then briefly kept his side alive with fine saves from Eduardo Camavinga and Nacho, while Bellingham’s goalbound effort was deflected behind by Nico Schlotterbeck.

But Bellingham did have a moment to savour on his homecoming as his pass teed up Vinicius to kill off Dortmund despite Kobel getting a hand to the Brazilian’s powerful shot.

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Jude Bellingham’s first year at Real Madrid began unbelievably amid a flurry of goals, but the ending could be even more incredible with the upcoming Champions League final.

With the Spanish title in the bag, Madrid are aiming for a fifth La Liga and Champions League double, against Bellingham’s former team Borussia Dortmund in Saturday’s Wembley final.

“It’s such a big game, my first Champions League final, back home in England against my old team — it’s a crazy one, I couldn’t have dreamed it any better,” Jude Bellingham told reporters this week.

The 20-year-old midfielder was voted La Liga’s Player of the Season on Wednesday. Bellingham scored 19 league goals and four in Europe on the way to the final.

Arriving at Real Madrid last summer, he revealed his love of former midfield great Zinedine Zidane and even took the Frenchman’s number five shirt in homage.

However, Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti had other plans for Bellingham, a classy centre-midfielder at Dortmund, putting him straight into the space vacated by striker Karim Benzema’s departure.

It paid instant dividends, with 13 goals in his first 13 games, getting him off to a flying start with Madrid’s fans, quick to serenade him with the Beatles song ‘Hey Jude’.

Bellingham struck twice, including a 91st-minute winner, in his first Clasico to snatch victory over then-champions Barcelona on Catalan soil.

Did he anticipate this kind of impact? “I came here expecting to win,” admitted Bellingham.

“I came here because I wanted to win, and to expect it, it’s a bit greedy almost, but you have to be confident when you’re playing with so many great players.”

With another late winner in the second league Clasico and three goals in two matches against shock title challengers Girona, Bellingham delivered in key moments.

His goalscoring slowed as Ancelotti tasked him with more defensive responsibility, chastened by a loss against Atletico Madrid — their only defeat in La Liga. In the Champions League Madrid are unbeaten.

“What you’ve seen from me this year is a lot of different kinds of roles and positions,” said Bellingham.

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There were some concerns about his fitness towards the end of the season following an ankle injury, but he says he feels “very close” to 100 per cent after resting once Madrid claimed the title.

Bellingham joined Dortmund from Birmingham City at the age of 17. He was the English side’s youngest ever player and they retired his number 22 shirt in tribute to him.

Initially outshone by team-mates Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland, Bellingham still managed to establish himself as a regular starter in his first season in Germany.

Dortmund coach Edin Terzic praised Bellingham’s maturity, saying he could “hardly believe that he’s only 17”.

Before his final season at Dortmund, Bellingham was included in the captaincy group alongside skipper Marco Reus and Mats Hummels.

He led them out against Cologne in October 2022, aged just 19, becoming the youngest captain in Bundesliga history.

“You have the feeling he’s got three kids at home -– he’s going places,” marvelled Dortmund centre-back Niklas Suele, a Champions League winner with Bayern Munich.

Bellingham established himself as a world-class talent at the 2022 World Cup, driving England to the quarter-finals.

Bellingham and Dortmund took the 2022-23 title race to the wire but lost out to Bayern on the final day, with the midfielder named Bundesliga player of the season.

A fortnight later Bellingham joined Madrid for 103 million euros ($112 million).

“He plays very grown-up football, even though he’s so young,” said Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi this week.

“I’m very happy for Jude, he played a great season,” added Emre Can. “But on the pitch we think just about winning for our club.”

Record 14-time champions Madrid are firm favourites though, and if they win, what is next for Bellingham?

“Hopefully the European Championship,” he said. “I just talked about being greedy… I’m focused on the final.”

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MADRID: Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior inspired runaway La Liga champions Real Madrid to a 5-0 rout of Alaves on Tuesday at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side continued warming up for the Champions League final with a comprehensive demolition of their Basque visitors.

Bellingham scored the opener and played a part in Madrid’s next three goals, two scored by Vinicius, finding his best form at the business end of the season.

Turkish teenager Arda Guler added a late fifth to put the cherry on Madrid’s cake, moving them 17 points clear of second-place Barcelona.

“We’ve had just one defeat in the league and I think that a big part of the success is because of (the defence),” Ancelotti told reporters after his side’s 30th consecutive league game unbeaten.

Madrid celebrated their title with an open-top bus parade on Sunday but with the Wembley final a little over a fortnight away, nobody is letting their concentration slip.

Least of all Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, made a fine double save from Samu Omorodion in the opening minutes.

After missing most of the season with a severe knee injury, Courtois is hoping for a Champions League final start and boasts three clean sheets in three matches since his return.

“I knew I’d come back strongly — I’m the same Courtois, or even better,” said the goalkeeper.

Ancelotti selected the vast majority of his first choice line-up after resting them at the weekend, and Madrid’s usual suspect opened the scoring. It was Bellingham, with his 19th league goal and perhaps his luckiest.

The England international directed Toni Kroos’ cross towards the far post where Dani Carvajal was running in, but the ball sank directly into the net.

Bellingham trails La Liga’s top scorer, Girona’s Artem Dovbyk, by one goal.

Madrid doubled their lead after Bellingham threaded a pass-through for Eduardo Camavinga.

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The French midfielder burst forward in the box and unselfishly squared for Vinicius to tap home when other players might have taken the chance to shoot.

Alaves midfielder Ianis Hagi, son of legendary Romanian playmaker Gheorghe Hagi, stung the palms of Courtois with a fierce drive at the other end.

The visitors have enjoyed a strong season and are safely ensconced in mid-table, avoiding the stress of a relegation battle.

However, Madrid dismantled them with consummate ease and Fede Valverde rattled home the third in first-half stoppage time after Bellingham played him in.

The Uruguayan midfielder hammered a strike into the top corner at the near post for his second league goal of the season, far fewer than his tally of seven last year due to his deeper role.

Courtois denied Omorodion and Hagi again in the second half as he continued stating his case to Ancelotti, and he ended up making nine saves altogether.

Vinicius extended Madrid’s lead after Bellingham played him in, lashing home his second of the night with a fine finish.

“I’m at my best,” said Vinicius. “Now we’ve got time to train and that lets us stay calm, do good work and arrive better than ever at Wembley.”

Rodrygo should have added the fifth but goalkeeper Jesus Owono denied him from close range after Vinicius teed him up, and so it was Guler instead after a deflected effort fell his way in the box.

“Every time a small team comes here, it’s a torment,” lamented Alaves coach Luis Garcia Plaza.

Eder Militao and Carvajal ended the game with apparent physical issues, but they turned out to be nothing serious.

“What happened with the knee is nothing,” Militao said after the game, while Ancelotti confirmed the Spanish defender was also fine.

Elsewhere high-flying Girona, third, fell to a 1-0 home defeat against Villarreal — Barcelona can move four points clear if they win at Almeria on Thursday.

Mallorca, 15th, rescued a 1-1 draw at Osasuna to add one more point in their battle for survival. The Copa del Rey runners-up are seven points clear of the relegation zone.

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La Liga president Javier Tebas said that Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) striker Kylian Mbappe will join Real Madrid next season.

The 25-year-old France captain announced last week he is leaving PSG at the end of his contract this summer, without specifying his destination, and Madrid are poised to sign him after years of failed attempts.

“He’s Madrid’s next season, yes,” Tebas told Argentine daily sports newspaper Ole on Monday.

“If they’ve signed a five-year deal, he has five seasons of opportunity (to win the Champions League).”

Kylian Mbappe is set to join a star-studded Real Madrid team led by Brazil’s Vinicius Junior and England international Jude Bellingham.

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Real Madrid strolled to the Spanish title and are in the Champions League final at Wembley against Borussia Dortmund on June 1.

“(Mbappe) is one of the best players in the world, but Vinicius and Bellingham are there too, Madrid will have a great squad,” continued Tebas. “But that does not guarantee you will win leagues.”

Mbappe is PSG’s all-time record scorer with 256 goals, having joined the club from Monaco in 2017 for 180 million euros ($194 million).

With PSG he won six French league titles but failed to earn Champions League glory, finishing as runners-up to Bayern Munich in 2020.

By joining record 14-time winners Real Madrid, Mbappe would increase his chances of finally earning club football’s most prestigious trophy.

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Kylian Mbappe scored on his final home appearance as a Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) player on Sunday but the French champions suffered a surprise 3-1 defeat against Toulouse on the night they picked up the Ligue 1 championship trophy.

Mbappe confirmed in a video posted on social media on Friday that he would be leaving PSG when his contract expires at the end of the season, ending a seven-year association with the club.

Real Madrid is expected to be the next destination for a player whose departure from Paris had been an open secret since February when he privately informed the club of his intention to move on.

Kylian Mbappe wore the captain’s armband and opened the scoring early on for PSG against Toulouse to take his tally for the season to 44 goals in all competitions.

However, Thijs Dallinga quickly equalised for the visitors against a PSG side which showed 10 changes to the team knocked out of the Champions League by Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals in midweek, with Mbappe the only player to keep his place.

Yann Gboho put Toulouse ahead with a brilliant strike in the second half, and Frank Magri wrapped up the win in stoppage time as PSG suffered just their second Ligue 1 loss this season, and their first in 27 games since September.

Mbappe has now scored 256 times for PSG, a club-record tally, since signing from Monaco in 2017 in a deal worth 180 million euros ($194 million).

His tally of 191 goals in France’s top flight — including 16 with Monaco at the beginning of his career — puts him in seventh place in the all-time list. Coach Luis Enrique described the 25-year-old as “a club legend” when he spoke to the media on the eve of the game.

PSG had indicated that celebrations after Sunday’s match would be dedicated to their title triumph, rather than any specific tribute to Mbappe himself.

There were even some jeers from the crowd for the striker when the teams were read out before the game, although a huge display was unfurled before kick-off at one end of the stadium depicting Mbappe in a trademark pose with his arms folded.

“I heard applause, the supporters paid him a deserved tribute, he is a club legend despite his youth,” said Luis Enrique who described the banner as “beautiful”.

The Qatar-owned club had already wrapped up a record-extending 12th French title, and 10th in 12 years, before hosting a Toulouse side who were themselves safe from any lingering threat of relegation.

PSG’s Champions League disappointment means Mbappe will leave the club without ever having got his hands on European football’s greatest prize.

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With Kylian Mbappe, PSG were runners-up in 2020 and have since reached the last four on two further occasions, but the France captain will now hope to finally get his hands on the trophy at his next club.

PSG can still finish the season by completing a clean sweep of domestic honours, as they face Lyon in the French Cup final in Lyon on May 25.

As well as Ligue 1, they have also already won the Champions Trophy, France’s equivalent of a Super Cup.

Luis Enrique’s team will complete their league campaign with a visit to Nice on Wednesday before going to Metz in their final game next Sunday.

Elsewhere, Mbappe’s first club Monaco clinched second place and automatic qualification for next season’s Champions League with a 2-0 win away at Montpellier.

Lille moved up into third place above Brest on goal difference as Jonathan David netted twice in their 2-1 win at Nantes.

The top three in Ligue 1 qualify directly for next season’s expanded, 36-team Champions League with the team finishing fourth entering the competition in the preliminary rounds.

Nice are fifth and trail both Lille and Brest by four points but still have a chance of a top-four place before hosting PSG in midweek.

Lens drew 1-1 at Rennes to hold onto sixth, while Orel Mangala’s goal gave Lyon a 1-0 win at Clermont as they kept their European hopes alive.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice as Marseille beat Lorient 3-1 to also remain in the European picture.

At the bottom, Clermont’s defeat means they are relegated, while Lorient are almost certainly down too as they trail Metz by three points with one game left and have an inferior goal difference.

Metz, who lost 2-1 at Strasbourg, are therefore set to go into a play-off against a team from Ligue 2 with a top-flight place for next season on the line.

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Real Madrid produced a spectacular comeback against Bayern Munich to reach the Champions League final on Wednesday with Joselu striking twice in the dying minutes, earning them a 2-1 win to progress 4-3 on aggregate.

Alphonso Davies smashed the visiting German giants ahead in the second half but record 14-time winners Madrid produced a sensational comeback with Joselu netting in the 88th and 91st minutes.

Spanish champions Real Madrid face another German side, Borussia Dortmund, in the Wembley final on June 1, after they stunned the team they call their “black beast”.

Journeyman striker and back-up option Joselu, on as a late substitute, wrote his name in Madrid’s history books with his last-gasp brace, giving Europe’s comeback kings another night to remember.

“There have been a lot of times we have looked dead and buried, but we have that mentality of never say die,” said Real midfielder Jude Bellingham.

“Joselu deserves it all, he has been an amazing squad member this season.”

Madrid had enjoyed the better of the match but it seemed Davies’ superb strike had set up a repeat of the 2013 all-German Champions League final in London.

Instead Joselu consigned Bayern Munich to a first trophyless season since 2012, his first goal coming after a handling error from Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who had superbly kept Madrid at bay until that point.

“(Before that) there were world class saves after world class saves, but that can happen, it’s football,” said Bayern defender Matthijs de Ligt.

Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel made three changes from the first leg, benching veteran Thomas Mueller and Leon Goretzka.

Dani Carvajal started for Madrid after missing the first leg suspended and was heavily involved as the hosts dominated the opening stages.

Rodrygo Goes was inches away from converting Carvajal’s low cross and the Spain defender then cleverly set up Vinicius Junior with a pass nutmegging a defender, and Manuel Neuer tipped the Brazilian’s shot against the post.

The rebound fell to Rodrygo but his effort was weak and with a desperate arm Neuer was able to claw it out to complete a fine double save.

Bayern’s Serge Gnabry limped off injured with Davies replacing him before England captain Harry Kane’s first flash of danger.

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Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin was alert to push Kane’s vicious long-range volley around the post.

Neuer palmed away a Vinicius free-kick as the teams ended a high-intensity, relentlessly frantic first half level.

The second period was just as fraught, with Davies’ cross deflecting onto the roof of Lunin’s goal.

Vinicius was unplayable down Madrid’s left and Rodrygo prodded his low cross agonisingly wide of the far post.

The 38-year-old Neuer made superb saves to deny both Brazilian forwards again before the hour mark as Madrid controlled the game and ratcheted up the pressure.

However just as in Munich, when Los Blancos were at their strongest, Bayern pounced.

Kane fed Davies and the Canada international cut inside from the left and smashed a shot beyond Lunin into the far top corner after 68 minutes.

Madrid thought they had levelled moments later through Nacho but after a VAR review the strike was ruled out as the defender had grabbed Joshua Kimmich’s face before shooting.

Tuchel took off Kane in the final stages to try and hold on to victory but it slipped through his fingers as Madrid produced more indelible European memories.

Neuer, who had been sublime to this point, fumbled what appeared a simple Vinicius strike and Joselu gratefully bundled home from close range.

With Bayern reeling Madrid struck again, decisively. It was Joselu once more, the striker on loan from second division side Espanyol, turning home after Antonio Rudiger cut the ball back to him.

The goal was ruled offside but officials overturned the decision after review, and after nearly 15 minutes of stoppage time, Madrid earned the chance to go for their 15th Champions League trophy.

Bayern were left raging at full-time after De Ligt netted but play had been stopped beforehand for an offside flag against Noussair Mazraoui.

“I don’t want to say that it’s always the referee’s mistake with Real Madrid, but that made the difference today,” grumbled De Ligt, saying play should have been allowed to continue.

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