Champions League

Speedster stopped, Real not! Frustration for Sabitzer

(Bild: AFP)

Dortmund put up a great fight in the Champions League final, but in the end Real Madrid won their 15th title in the premier class. A bitter evening for Marcel Sabitzer. "Substitute" Alaba is now a four-time winner.

The "Krone" reports from London

The final whistle blew at Wembley Stadium, Marcel Sabitzer sank to the ground in frustration and national team colleague David Alaba was one of the first to console him. "Sabi" had put up a great fight against the "royals" with Dortmund, and for a long time they had been the better team - but in the end Real Madrid won 2:0, the 15th title in the premier class for the Madrilenians, the fourth for Alaba.

(Bild: Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

He had been named as a Real substitute on the official match sheet - only symbolically, as his injury means he is not yet fit to play.

Logically, there was only one player on the pitch: Marcel Sabitzer. Whose personal final looked like this:

• He opened the game with the kick-off, his first "duel" was one with a speedster in the first minute. Four (!) had stormed the field within a few seconds, Sabitzer stopped the last one.

• The Austrian then ran enough kilometers, often trying to disrupt Real director Toni Kroos early on in order to stop his dangerous passes.

• On 41 minutes, he forced keeper Courtois into a brilliant save with a powerful shot that bounced slightly.

• A minute later, he was shown a yellow card for criticizing the assistant.

• So there was a lot going on for "Sabi" in the first half, with which he and his Dortmund colleagues could be very, very satisfied, as it clearly belonged to Black & Yellow.

• Not so the second 45 minutes, in which Borussia and Sabitzer faced a stronger Real. As a result, the Austrian threw his hands up over his head after 74 minutes - Real had taken the lead, as so often the "royals" had struck coldly.

• Just under ten minutes later it was the same picture - the next Real goal, again a frustrated Sabitzer.

Now it's up to his ÖFB colleagues to straighten him up - so that he's fit and fresh for great deeds with Austria at the EURO!