UEFA Champions League
Real Madrid seeking to establish new Champions League dynasty
Real Madrid face Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday with Carlo Ancelotti’s side seeking to add another chapter to the club’s already astonishing love affair with European soccer’s elite trophy.
Bidding for a record-extending 15th European Cup and sixth in 10 years, they want to emulate Real’s dominance at the dawn of the competition when, during the Alfredo Di Stefano years, they won the first five editions from 1956 and another in 1966.
But after the group of Di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas, Paco Gento and Raymond Kopa established Real as ‘The Kings of Europe’, it took the club 32 painful years to reclaim their throne in 1998.
Rivals often joked about Real’s European Cups all being won in black and white, but the generation of Raul, Fernando Hierro and Roberto Carlos helped Real flourish again in full colour broadcasts when they won three Champion Leagues in five seasons.
But there were then another 12 fallow years, making Real’s quest for ‘The 10th’ an obsession for president Florentino Perez, who failed spectacularly to achieve it via his multimillion dollar ‘Galacticos’ approach.
Real, however, learned from their mistakes and instead of overpaying for big names past their prime, turned their attention to upcoming players on the rise, trying to develop some ‘Galacticos’ of their own.
They signed Toni Kroos from Bayern Munich, Sevilla’s Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema of Lyon, Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo – all under 24 and set to reach their peak during the following decade in Spain.
The club also started paying close attention to Brazil, looking for the next gem from the five-times world champions’ development system. Marcelo and Casemiro signed for a bargain six million euros ($6.50 million) and became club legends.
That youthful but talented squad, under the calm guidance of Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane, bonded as a group and connected on the pitch like a well-oiled machine to finally establish the second great dynasty Real had spent half a century looking for.
LATE COMEBACKS
After winning a cathartic 10th European Cup led by Ancelotti in 2014, Real then won three in a row under Zidane.
Then, with Ancelotti back at the helm, they claimed another in 2022, crowning a remarkable campaign full of late comebacks that proved they were more than a team built around Ronaldo after the Portuguese left following the 2018 title in Kiev.
Now, two years later, they are back knocking on the door with a team in which Dani Carvajal is the only surviving starter from ‘The 10th’ a decade ago, as their young guns are eager to prove they are ready to step up and continue the club’s success.
Ronaldo, Ramos, Marcelo, Benzema and Casemiro are all long gone. Kroos has just had a retirement send-off and will stop playing after the Euros , while Luka Modric, 38, has become a rotational player in a young squad brimming with talent.
However, barely missing a beat, Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo have taken on the famous white shirt and are already looking to establish the next Real dynasty.
“That generation has been the generation of commitment and positive attitude,” Ancelotti told a press conference on Monday.
“The veterans are leading the way and will continue to do so. But they are fewer and the youngsters are taking more responsibility. A lot of young players have arrived. They have technical quality but also understand what Real is all about.”
Edin Terzic’s Dortmund side are certainly not turning up as guests at the Madrid party though.
Their Champions League pedigree pales in comparison to Real’s – a single triumph in the 1997 final and defeat in 2013 – and they are coming off a disappointing Bundesliga season.
But they are no respecters of reputation as victories over Atletico Madrid in the last eight and Paris St Germain in the semi-finals emphatically showed.
-Reuters
UEFA Champions League
Osimhen and Aubameyang: Africa’s First Men of the Match in 2025/26 Champions League
The Champions League has barely started and already African fans have something to be proud of.
Two of the continent’s biggest names, Victor Osimhen from Nigeria and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Gabon, have become the first African players this season to be named Man of the Match.
For Osimhen, it was a night to remember in Istanbul. Galatasaray were up against Liverpool, a team with a European pedigree and needed someone to step up. Osimhen did just that.
His goal gave Galatasaray a 1-0 win but it was more than just the goal. His energy and how he kept Liverpool’s defenders on their toes all night made him the best player on the pitch.
So his winning of the UEFA Man of the Match award. Galatasaray fans had proof they have a striker who can change games at the highest level.
Meanwhile, on the same night in Marseille, Aubameyang was showing why he has been Africa’s most reliable goal scorer for over a decade.
At 36, some wondered if he still had it on nights like this. His answer was a thunderous “YES.”
Marseille tore Ajax apart in a 4–0 demolition that saw Aubameyang seal his stature as the orchestrator and heartbeat of the French club’s attack.
His movement, his composure and his leadership stood out. So much so that he too was rightfully awarded the Man of the Match.
The fact that these two happened on the same night made it even more special for African football fans.
Osimhen represents the new generation: quick, hungry and with still a few years ahead to make history.
Aubameyang is the veteran still out there to prove – even though he really has nothing to prove anymore – that experience and class don’t fade easily.
Together, they gave African football fans a double reason to smile.
For Nigeria and Gabon, these awards are more than individual trophies. They are ultimately a reminder of how much African players contribute to the Champions League season in, season out.
And the tournament is still in its early stages. So there’s every chance more players from the continent will follow in their footsteps before the Budapest finale in 2026. Only good omens for the 2025 AFCON that starts in a few months.
-Morocco World News
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In his glory days, Jose Mourinho celebrated dramatic goals from his teams by sprinting down the touchline, sometimes sliding on his knees for extra euphoric effect.
On Tuesday, back at his former club Chelsea as the new coach of Benfica, Mourinho’s most eye-catching intervention was down the touchline again, but this time his run was to urge his team’s fans to stop hurling objects onto the pitch.
Benfica under Mourinho, in his fourth game in charge, were defeated 1-0 by an under-strength Chelsea side in the Champions League after a fist-half Richard Rios own goal.
The self-declared “Special One” was lauded by the home fans with a few choruses of “Jose Mou-rin-ho” in recognition of his successes – three Premier League titles and four other trophies – which no other Chelsea manager has come close to matching.
Mourinho, 62, acknowledged the chants with a gentle wave, got a cheer when he ventured onto the pitch to clear a spare ball and quickly vanished down the tunnel at the final whistle after shaking the hand of Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca.
It was all a far cry from the fervour of 20 years ago when Mourinho – having led Porto to an unlikely Champions League triumph – turned Chelsea into English champions for the first time in 50 years in 2005 and won the title again a year later.
After a collapse of form, Mourinho departed in 2007 but he won the Champions League again, this time with Inter Milan in 2010, knocking out the Londoners on the way to the final.
He went on to manage Real Madrid before returning to Chelsea where he claimed a third English title and then had spells at Manchester United, London side Tottenham Hotspur – an unforgivable move for many Chelsea fans at the time – and Roma.
As the big offers dried up, Mourinho went on to coach Fenerbahce in Turkey where he lasted little more than a year before his return to Portuguese football with Benfica.
Asked after Tuesday’s defeat by Chelsea if he still had the drive of the early days of his career, Mourinho insisted he felt more motivated.
“If I am in a job it’s because I like to put myself on the line every day,” he told reporters. “I am desperate to win the next match.”
Mourinho said he thought Benfica had deserved more from the game. “We started well, we controlled well. I don’t know if I can say big chances but we had chances for sure.”
Chelsea’s Maresca said he was relieved to secure a win – albeit a scrappy one – after two consecutive defeats in the Premier League and a 3-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the his side’s Champions League opener.
“Sometimes you need to learn to win in another way,” he said of Chelsea’s improved defensive performance. “At least we learned how to win a game with a red card.”
Striker Joao Pedro was dismissed for a second yellow card after coming on as a substitute, the third time in four matches that Chelsea have finished with 10 men
-Reuters
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Hosts Eintracht Frankfurt scored four times in 29 minutes to bounce back from a goal down and hammer Galatasaray 5-1 in their Champions League opener on Thursday.
The Turkish sides are without their talismanic striker, Victor Osimhen who was injured while on international duty with Nigeria.
The Turks had hit Frankfurt on the break with Yunus Akgun completing the move from a Leroy Sane assist in the eighth minute. Germany international Sane, who joined from Bayern Munich this season, became the only player in Champions League history to play for four or more clubs and score or assist on his debut for each of them.
Frankfurt, competing for only the second time in the Champions League main round, struggled to break through Galatasaray’s defence until a defensive error from Akgun in the 37th. Ritsu Doan pounced, charged into the box and Davinson Sanchez deflected the Japanese winger’s shot in for an own goal.
The hosts took the lead in first-half stoppage time when 19-year-old Turkey international Can Uzun scored a superb goal on his Champions League debut after fine control and a quick turn in the box. The hosts netted again before halftime with Jonathan Burkardt’s well-timed glancing header putting them 3-1 up.
With the visitors forced to take more risks after the break, Frankfurt found space and Burkardt completed his dream Champions League debut with another header in the 66th for his second goal of the evening. Ansgar Knauff completed the rout in the 75th.
Frankfurt next travel to Atletico Madrid on September 30 when Galatasaray host Liverpool.
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