It wasn’t the best of 2023/24 seasons for Borussia Dortmund, after finishing 5th in the league, and getting booted out the DFB-Pokal in the last 16 against VfB Stuttgart, they went to their first UEFA Champions League final in eleven years.
The aftermath of the end of season climatic showpiece usually has one club celebrating their fortunes while the other is left to pick their pieces and ponder on the next steps and why Lenny Kravtiz was still dancing on the centre circle stage when the players should have been out there soaking up their moment.
Borussia Dortmund of course, were the latest team to lick their wounds after losing a Champions League final, but there is no shame in the manner of defeat to Real Madrid of all teams.
BVB can be proud of their showing against the record champions as they battled honourably and shocked observers with their own impressive run to the final of the competition.
The Germans caused their much-fancied opponents all sorts of problems at Wembley Stadium, but like many previous UCL opponents, they ultimately fell short. They only need to ask Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Liverpool about getting sucker-punched by this Real Madrid team.
Despite a spirited performance from the Bundesliga side, BVB were guilty of missing several good chances and the longer Real Madrid stayed alive, the more the feeling of inevitability arose. When Dortmund began to play a few lazy passes and the ball started to fall Madrid’s way, they smelled blood and the Kings of Europe would not be missing their opportunities.
Cue glorious scenes from the Madrid faithful as Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior both scored in the final 16 minutes of the game to lift the famous European Cup for a record-extending 15th time.
So Sir Alex Ferguson remained the only man to defeat Madrid in a European final with Aberdeen 40 years ago.
But Dortmund can have few complaints about failing to win just their second UCL title.
This is because the Bundesliga side is set to play in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup despite losing the Champions League final. Much like the Champions League is not just for league winners, now the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup no longer is exclusively for the winners of each nations major trophy.
World Cup of Champions New Format
The world football governing body has expanded the competition to a 32-team tournament with 12 European clubs set to take part in the competition between June 15th and July 13th 2025. The tournament will include sides from FIFA’s six confederations and take place in various cities across the U.S.A.
Making up the European contingent will be the winners of the UEFA Champions League from 2021 to 2024 as well as the best clubs in the club ranking list, which reflects performances and successes in the 2020/21 to 2023/24 Champions League campaigns. Each national association may send a maximum of two participants unless the number of Champions League winners in this timeframe is higher.
The 2025 Club World Cup will have eight groups with four teams in each in the first round, there will be two clubs from Europe in four of the eight groups while the other 20 participants will come from South America (six), Africa, Asia, North and Central America (four each) and Oceania (one) while the last place will go to a club from the host country.
The top two teams in the groups will reach the Round of 16 where a knockout format takes place.
World Cup of Champions Teams
The 12 European clubs set to be involved in the tournament are Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan, Porto, Benfica, Dortmund, Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Red Bull Salzburg.
Yes the 6th best team in England (Chelsea were even 12th the season before) are in because of their 20/21 Champions League win. City at least, have the title of world champions and FIFA Club World Cup holders, winning the trophy in 2023.
Qualified teams from other continents include; Palmeiras, River Plate, Flamengo and Fluminense representing South America, Auckland City representing Oceania, Al Ahly, Mamelodi Sundowns, ES Tunis and Wydad Casablanca from Africa, Al-Hilal, Al Ain, Ulsan HD and Urawa Red Diamonds coming from the Asian Federation while Monterrey, Pachuca, Seattle Sounders and Club Leon are the candidates from North America.
There are only three places left at the time of writing and one spot each will go to the 2024 CONMEBOL Libertadores winners (due to be played November 30th 2024), a CONMEBOL ranking pathway and finally one team from the host country.
Looking ahead, they will also have their eyes set on an impressive run in the Club World Cup but the tournament is set to significantly strain those players representing their national teams. Next year’s Champions League final will be played on May 31, before an international break with World Cup qualifiers and the final of the UEFA Nations League scheduled between June 2 and 10.
The expanded Club World Cup will kick off in the United States only five days later and last until July 13th 2025, after 63 games with the teams that will reach the final required to play seven matches.
Many would still consider participating in this unprecedented format as a worthwhile strain with clubs receiving € 50 million for qualifying for the tournament and the winner earning up to €100million.
They may not be one of the favourites to win the competition, but Dortmund will be glad to attend and dream again.
The Bayern Munich vs Dortmund Rivalry
Notably, Dortmund already confirmed their place in the competition alongside Bayern Munich back in March due to their four-year UEFA coefficient rankings. Last year however, even Bayern stumbled and faltered, and finished in 3rd place. It was the first time since 1983/84 that neither of the sides had finished in the top 2, and in that time between them they won 31 of the 40 seasons.
The season before (2022/23), Bayern pipped Dortmund to the title on Goal difference. BVB have been perennial runners-up, with that combo the result 6 times of the last 10 years. The season before under Jurgen Klopp, BVB had triumphed for 2 seasons. A rare triumph for the team in Yellow and Black.
There is also another accolade they share. Since the 2011/12 season, 12 of the 13 seasons best supported club was Dortmund. The one they missed? 2019/20 ended early and Bayern Munich pipped them.
So the odds are, both highly supported sides will be in contention for the 24/25 season with both Dortmund and Bayern Munich tickets are already selling fast ahead of the competition.
BVB have the unfair reputation of the Bridesmaid that never gets married, despite winning the Champions League in 1996/97 before going on to lift the Intercontinental Cup, the sole direct predecessor of the Club World Cup.
What may be interpreted as modern-day mediocrity is not the same regarding every other aspect of how the club is run. This is because Dortmund have reportedly earned more money by losing the Champions League final.
The club earned €14.7 million as Champions League runners-up while Madrid netted €20 million in prize money, but they will receive an additional € 5 million due to a clause included in the transfer of Jude Bellingham. There will also be a € 2 million fee on top of that for the Englishman being named in the UEFA Champions League Team of the Season, meaning Dortmund are set to earn around €22.5million for losing at Wembley, as opposed to €20million for winning it.
Nevertheless, they will need to dip into their pockets to strengthen this team ahead of next season after Jadon Sancho and Ian Maatsen both impressed on loan from Premier League clubs. The Prussians are now required to pay Maatsen’s €35million release clause to Chelsea while they must negotiate a fair transfer fee to bring back Sancho from his horror Manchester United spell.
With forward Niclas Füllkrug a ‘serious target’ for AC Milan, Dortmund will hope he stays alongside Alexander Meyer, Niklas Süle, Julian Ryerson, Ramy Bensebain, Marcel Sabitzer, Mats Hummels, Julien Duranville, Sébastien Haller and Emre Can.
