Champions League final: Just how is Real Madrid so consistently good?

Real Madrid will again vie for European club soccer's biggest prize, and it has 'happened so many times it cannot be coincidence.'

From left, Luka Modric, head coach Carlo Ancelotti and Toni Kroos of Real Madrid stand together during a training session ahead of the Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund. Ian Walton/Associated Press

LONDON — Whatever you call it, just don’t call it luck.

Real Madrid has consistently dominated European club soccer’s biggest prize like no other. On the eve of the Champions League final, Coach Carlo Ancelotti was asked to explain this phenomenon. “There is something special in this club. It is important to study this,” Ancelotti said on Friday. “It is something special. For what reason I don’t know. History, conditions, quality of the players, character … it happened so many times it cannot be coincidence.”

Borussia Dortmund will face a club in Saturday’s final at Wembley Stadium that never seems to watch the clock, never seems to give up, and consistently pulls off improbable comebacks in a competition it holds in the highest regard.

The most recent example was substitute Joselu’s two-goal performance in the dying moments of the semifinal against Bayern Munich, rescuing the 14-time European champion from near elimination. Two years ago, both Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City were victims of some of Madrid’s most memorable comebacks. Madrid went on to win the trophy in 2022, having trailed in every round from the round of 16 through to the semifinals.

“We would prefer to start (the match) winning,” captain Nacho said. “We also suffer on the pitch when we are losing.”

These spectacular comebacks add to the mystique that surrounds Madrid and the Champions League.

A victory against Dortmund would earn Madrid a record-extending 15th European Cup. Ancelotti himself could set a new record with his fifth Champions League trophy as a coach. The message is clear: Dortmund will be battling not just Madrid’s team of stars, but the weight of history as well. Madrid’s players are all too happy to feed the legend.

“Everyone that likes football knows Real Madrid is a special team in this competition,” Nacho said. “We haven’t invented that. When the (Champions League) anthem sounds, we feel a special feeling. It is something special to win so many trophies, but also a big responsibility.”

Madrid is the overwhelming favorite to win a ninth title in the Champions League era and a second in the last three seasons. Standing in its way is a Dortmund team that finished fifth in the German league, 27 points behind champion Bayer Leverkusen. But Dortmund’s lone Champions League trophy was also an upset in 1997 when it beat defending champion Juventus.

“We are ready to compete at the highest level,” Coach Edin Terzic said. “Maybe if you play 10 times against Real Madrid, it is very difficult. If you play 34 times, it’s impossible. But if you break it down to one game, a final, everything is possible. It is clear they have a role as favorites. We don’t care.”

Dortmund secured its place in the final with surprise wins against Atletico Madrid and PSG in the quarterfinals and semifinals. This is its third final after losing to Bayern Munich, also at Wembley, in 2013.

“If we are brave and ready to show that we are not here to watch Real Madrid lift the next trophy, if we are here to give them a game, then we have a chance,” Terzic said.