EUROPEAN DOMINATION Real Madrid win their 15th Champions League trophy

• After a fiery final against Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid managed to become the first team ever to win a record of 15 Champions League titles
•  It was the final game for three legends: Marco Reus (35 years old), Nacho Fernández (34 years old), and Toni Kroos (34 years old).

The 68th edition of the Champions League ended with an amazing final held at the Wembley Stadium in London, in front of over 85.000 people.

Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid fought for the title of the best European club in a pretty even manner. That was until the 74th minute, when Dani Carvajal (32 years old) opened the score for Los Blancos with a header from Kroos’ beautiful pass.

Only 9 minutes later, Vinicius Jr. (23 years old) scored the second and last goal of the match, which sealed Madrid’s victory. After some minutes, Niclas Füllkrug (31 years old) scored for the German side, but their hope was short-lived, as the goal was disallowed by VAR for offside.

Real Madrid extended their record of UCL trophies to an astounding number 15, the most in football history. In addition, the Spanish giants won 6 out of the last 10 finals, dominating Europe like no other club.

What a Day to be a Madridista!

The 24 hours that followed after the Champions League win were almost as exciting for their fans. Not only did they host an amazing open-top bus parade in Madrid, but the players had some exciting news that they shared with the Madridistas.

First, Luka Modrić (38 years old) officially announced that he will be playing one more year at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. The fans and media have already been speculating this announcement for a few weeks now, but nothing was said to the public until now. 

Secondly, Toni Kroos, who played his last match for Real Madrid and will retire from football after the Euros 2024, told the crowd that now that his legendary shirt number 8 is free, he would specifically like Federico Valverde (25 years old) to have it.

This is a great honor for the Uruguayan midfielder, as he has declared many times in the past that he sees Kroos as a mentor and an idol.

Last but not least, yesterday, multiple trusted media outlets and Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano announced that the deal between Kylian Mbappé (25 years old) and Real Madrid will be made official as soon as possible.

This transfer saga has already been going on for a few years, as Mbappé refused Real Madrid several times to extend his stay at Paris Saint-Germain. The French attacker even bought a house in Madrid a few months ago, preparing for his future move.

Sources also indicate that Mbappé will receive a signing fee of around €100M, which will be split over the 5 years of his alleged contract.

“His dream was always the same, to wear the Real Madrid shirt one day and he’s going to make it because the deal is now done” Fabrizio Romano

The Race for Ballon d’Or

Most football fans worldwide would agree that at the moment, the 2 favorites to win the 2024 Ballon d’Or are none other that Real Madrid colleagues Vinicius Jr. and Jude Bellingham (20 years old) because of their amazing stats this season.

The Brazilian left-winger scored 24 goals and had 11 assists in 39 games, while the English attacking midfielder scored 23 times and had 13 assists in 42 matches. Bellingham is also in his first season for Real Madrid, managing to break the record of legends like Cristiano Ronaldo (39 years old).

For example, he is the first Madrid player to score 14 goals in their first 15 matches, but also the first player since Ronaldo in the 2014-2015 season to score in both LaLiga games against their eternal rival, FC Barcelona.

Real Madrid have also won their 36th LaLiga title this season, meaning both Ballon d’Or favorites also have 2 trophies this season, besides their impressive stats.

Most likely, the winner of the most prestigious individual football award will be decided through the results of their national teams, which both compete in this year’s intercontinental competitions.

England is one of the favorites to win Euro 2024, as is Brazil to win the Copa América.

Smashing Records

The 15th title of Real Madrid also broke records at an individual level. Until now, there was only one player who won the Champions League 6 times, the late Paco Gento, a Real Madrid legend who played for the Spanish club in the 1950s and 1960s.

Now, 4 more players were added to this exclusive list: Nacho Fernández, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, and Dani Carvajal. Modric and Carvajal still have the chance to be the first players to have 7 UCLs if Real Madrid wins it back-to-back, as there’s a high probability that they will also retire after the next season.

Nacho and Modric are also now the players with the most trophies in Real Madrid history: 26!