Real Madrid are in with a chance of winning their 15th Champions League title, but Borussia Dortmund are determined to thwart the Royals and return to Dortmund with the trophy. Saturday's match will be a clash and a farewell to two legends, Toni Kroos and Marco Reus, and the arena for this duel will be the legendary Wembley Stadium.

Built for great finals

Wembley Stadium was always the ideal arena for big events. It is no coincidence that the first match played at the stadium was the FA Cup final in 1923. The venue survived demolition plans appearing in the second half of the 1920s and the Second World War, so that it hosted all FA Cup finals from 1923 to 2000, as does the new Wembley Stadium from 2007 to the present day.

In 1948, while London was still healing its wounds from the Second World War, Wembley became the main arena for the Olympic Games. The golden age of the stadium came in the 1960s and 1970s, when it hosted the European Cup final (today's Champions League) four times and played the final and 3rd place match of the 1966 World Cup.

The next European Cup final was not played at Wembley until 1992, when Barcelona beat Sampdoria 1:0. In 1996, it was at the London arena that Germany won the European Championship title, beating the Czech Republic 2:1.

© Julian Tollast

Flashbacks from Wembley

After the 1992 reform of the European competition system and the renaming of the European Cup as the Champions League, the new, remodelled Wembley hosted two finals. The first, in 2011, was won by Barcelona, beating Manchester United 3:1. The second had to wait just two years.

In the 2013 final, Borussia Dortmund faced Bayern Munich at Wembley, losing 1:2. Only two players who took part in that match are still playing for the Dortmund team. They are Mats Hummels and Marco Reus, for whom Saturday's clash will be his last game in Borussia colours and his second chance to win the Champions League trophy.

Los Blancos, despite their frequent visits to the British Isles, have only played at Wembley...once. Not fond memories, however. In the group stage of the Champions League in 2017, they lost there 1:31 to Tottenham, who were just building Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the time. Of the squad that took to the pitch then, only Nacho, Modrić and Kroos still play for Real Madrid. For Toni Kroos, the final will be his last match in his club career.

The eyes of all football fans will be on Wembley Stadium on Saturday, which is not associated well with the players of either team. Both Reus' Die Schwarzgelben and Kroos' Los Blancos, however, will have to break the Wembley curse if they want to go home with a gold medal around their necks.

© Thorsten Weidinger