Real Madrid are going for a record-extending 15th European Cup.

Borussia Dortmund are aiming to pull off one of football’s biggest upsets in recent memory.

Whoever win the Champions League final at the Wembley in London on Saturday will be defying the odds in their own way.

Madrid’s domination of European club football’s biggest prize confounds belief. Their record of 14 titles is twice as many as their closest rivals AC Milan.

“The club has created its history in this competition,” coach Carlo Ancelotti says.

Madrid’s record in the Champions League era is even more impressive: Eight wins since the tournament was rebranded in 1992; three in a row from 2016-18 and five in the last 10 years. In the same period, Madrid have won La Liga only four times.

“It’s something special for the club. It’s a competition where we’re more focused,” says Ancelotti, who can win a record-extending fifth Champions League as a coach.

Teams are not supposed to enjoy such superiority in a competition filled with the biggest and richest clubs in the world. Not even great teams of recent times such as Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona or Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United — both repeat finalists — could come close to the kind of hold Madrid has had on the Champions League. And even in the face of competition from state-backed teams like Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, the all-time king of Europe refuses to be dethroned.

Which is why this final is so intriguing. It is a clash between the old money and glamour of Madrid and the savvy approach of a Dortmund team that has found an alternative way to compete with Europe’s superpowers.

There is no better illustration of the contrast between the rivals than Jude Bellingham, who swapped Dortmund for Madrid last year in a deal worth up to $139 million. Bellingham could well be the match-winner, having helped fire Madrid to the Spanish title in a spectacular debut season.

Yet, in his absence, Dortmund stand on the brink of adding to their lone Champions League triumph in 1997 in their third final ever.

Courtois to start

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois will start, coach Ancelotti said on Friday. Courtois was confirmed in the starting lineup for Saturday’s showdown after Andriy Lunin was struck down by flu.

Ancelotti had said he had a difficult decision to make after Courtois missed most of the season through injury and Lunin helped Madrid to the Spanish title as the understudy. But Lunin was unable to travel with the rest of the squad to London because of illness and won’t join them until Saturday.

“Lunin will travel tomorrow (Saturday). So Courtois will be in goal,” Ancelotti said. Lunin was the hero saving two penalties in the shootout win over Man City in the quarter finals.