• Questions for officials after final delayed following kick-off
• Police make 53 arrests over ‘attempts to breach security’

Wembley officials were left embarrassed after three pitch invaders caused a delay to the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund despite the presence of more than 2,500 stewards as part of increased security measures.

An 18-month operation had been put in place in an attempt to avoid a repeat of violent scenes that marred the Euro 2020 final between England and Italy, with a large police presence at Wembley and throughout London.

• ‘We are not going to sleep!’ manager says of celebrations
• Jude Bellingham says: ‘Nights like tonight make it all worth it’

Carlo Ancelotti said that Real Madrid’s winning mentality helped them survive a major scare against Borussia Dortmund and claim a record 15th Champions League title.

The German side dominated the first half at Wembley and it required a string of fine saves from Thibaut Courtois, who has spent most of the season out injured, to keep them level at the break. Those missed chances came back to haunt Dortmund, with Dani Carvajal heading home from a Toni Kroos corner 16 minutes from time before Vinícius Júnior made sure of the victory – the ninth successive European Cup final Madrid have contested in which they have emerged victorious.

It is the competition that Real Madrid like to think they own and the reasons why were mapped out in graphic detail at Wembley. Yet again. Borussia Dortmund brought the punch of the underdog and they played with a stirring liberation in the first half, creating chances and, well, missing them. It was impossible to think they would not regret it.

Madrid reset at half-time and when they started to press, everybody knew they had seen this movie, especially the ending. If Vinícius Júnior was a symbol of Madrid’s travails in the first half – booked for a lunge at the Dortmund goalkeeper, Gregor Kobel; guilty of a lack of conviction, at times – he relocated his game to dazzling effect thereafter.

• Champions League final news, 8pm BST kick-off at Wembley
• Pitch invaders disrupt final | And you can also mail Scott

You’ll Never Walk Alone. It’s an anthem for Borussia Dortmund as well, and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s most terrace-friendly ditty is currently ringing around Wembley. Up in the posh seats, the aforementioned Kloppo sings and sways in the emotional style. A pfenning for all of the conflicting thoughts running through the head of the former Liverpool boss right now. He looks healthy and happy and about ten years younger. Premier League management is a job of work all right.

Dortmund have Jurgen Klopp, so Real need a celebrity fan of their own in attendance. Step forward Jay-Z, who is at Wembley to support his Roc Nation Sports client Vinicius Júnior. In other news, the Wembley turf is looking lush, so while Jay-Z has 99 problems … no, you deserve better than that. I’m sorry for even thinking about it.

Forces outside the capital drawn on for Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid match and a Tommy Robinson march and counter-protest

More than 2,000 officers have been deployed across London, including more than 400 from outside the capital, to police the Champions League final, a protest by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson and a counter-demonstration.

The final between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid takes place at Wembley on Saturday evening. And, earlier, a protest organised by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, more commonly known as Tommy Robinson, set off from the Victoria area on Saturday, ending up in Parliament Square where speeches took place.

More teams, more games, a single league structure: this is how Europe’s top men’s club competition will look in 2024-25

When Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid conclude this season’s Champions League at Wembley on Saturday, the continent will wave goodbye to the current format. In 2024-25 a new system will be put in place that will bring more teams, more games and more money to be made.

• Thibaut Courtois will start for favourites in Wembley final
• Ancelotti: ‘You fear it can escape you. It’s a feeling we all have’

Carlo Ancelotti called the Champions League final the “most dangerous” game of the season on the eve of Real Madrid facing Borussia Dortmund as overwhelming favourites to win their sixth European Cup in a decade and the 15th in their history.

The Italian denied the competition was an “obsession” for the club, admitted there would be fear in the hours before kick-off and insisted their campaign should be defined as “successful whatever happens” at Wembley. “The obsession is to try to do your best, as we have all season; sometimes it doesn’t go the way you want,” he said.

Coaches and teammates on how Birmingham’s ‘skinny teenager’ developed into one of the world’s best players before his first Champions League final

This week Jude Bellingham offered a glimpse into the mind of a phenomenon by quietly admitting he had envisaged these days, just maybe not so soon. Little did he know, at the start of his teens, that one week training on the outskirts of Barcelona and another at the foothills of the Black Forest would provide him with something of a peek into the future. Birmingham City recognised the boy who joined at seven from Stourbridge Juniors would benefit from fresh challenges, different plains. They wanted to take him out of his ever-evolving comfort zone, though that was somewhere he rarely stayed long.

Birmingham sent Bellingham on a kind of footballing school exchange, to Cornellà and Freiburg, teams in Spain and Germany with whom they had links, to give him a taste of European football. On Saturday Bellingham will play in the continent’s grandest club match, when Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, his current and former clubs, duel for the Champions League at Wembley. It is a long way from his colourful early days in Birmingham’s pre-academy that Mike Dodds, who coached Bellingham during his first and last training sessions at the club, well remembers.

Wembley underdogs have shed their youth-oriented, profit-hungry model to reach new heights with a tougher team

All week, and by small degrees, London has been turning yellow and black. Stickers on Tube escalators. Scarves tied to lampposts. A BVB-emblazoned padlock on the banks of the Thames at Westminster. Wide-eyed fans milling through the pubs of Soho, wincing at the beer prices. Trying to soak up every last available morsel of enjoyment from the experience before – you know – the actual football starts.

It’s a largely moot point whether Borussia Dortmund are the biggest final outsiders in the modern history of the Champions League. Perhaps Internazionale last season, perhaps Liverpool in 2005. Either way, given the opposition, their fifth-placed finish in the Bundesliga and the charmed passage they have enjoyed to the final, few give them a hope at Wembley on Saturday night.

CBS’s Uefa Champions League Today has been met with heaps of acclaim, drawing comparisons to TNT’s Inside the NBA. And Jamie Carragher has proven essential to the chemistry

When Jamie Carragher was approached to join CBS’s Uefa Champions League Today panel, he’d already established himself as one of the most notable pundits in soccer.

But while English viewers had long grown accustomed to the Liverpool legend’s cutting remarks and eye-opening analysis on Sky Sports, there was one aspect of Carragher’s punditry that CBS Sports’ senior creative director Peter Radovich was concerned about.

Borussia Dortmund are reaping the rewards of renewing relationship with their big-name loanee by reaching the Champions League final

Borussia Dortmund’s legends team made a trip to Glasgow last Sunday to play their Celtic counterparts, raising funds for the Scottish champions’ foundation. Maybe Dortmund fans do not need any prodding towards nostalgic sentiments at the moment, as their team prepare to return to Wembley for a Champions League final 11 years on from their last one. Same stage, same place.

Nevertheless, there was plenty to comfort those wanting to relive the Jürgen Klopp glory years. Six of the players involved at Wembley in 2013 – Roman Weidenfeller, Lukasz Piszczek, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Marcel Schmelzer, Kevin Grosskreutz, and Oliver Kirch – played at Celtic Park, a welcome chime of past glories before the push to create a new landmark against Real Madrid, going one better than back then.

Champions League final will be midfielder’s last in all white before he bows out at Euro 2024

Carlo Ancelotti: His decision to go is the decision of a great, a decision of character. We are saying farewell to a footballing great who we have been lucky to have here. He is a great midfielder with huge quality and fantastic character, with little ego, who always played for the team; very altruistic. We have been lucky to have him for 10 years. Toni could close his career with a Champions League and at an individual level he deserves it. But his career doesn’t need another Champions League. He has been a fantastic player for 10 years, he had made history with Real Madrid and in world football.

Eduardo Camavinga: Toni doesn’t say much but when he does, he kills you. I like that about him.

• Move follows chaotic scenes at recent showpiece events
• Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund meet on Saturday

Wembley will implement its biggest security operation for the ­Champions League final on Saturday in an effort to avoid any repeat of the chaos that has surrounded recent showpiece events at home and abroad.

More than 2,500 stewards will oversee crowds attending the match between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, while a £5m investment in beefed-up infrastructure is intended to ensure the scenes that marred the Euro 2020 final at the national stadium remain consigned to the past.

Faye Carruthers and Suzanne Wrack are joined by Sophie Downey and Ceylon Andi Hickman to review Barcelona’s 2-0 over Lyon in Bilbao

In today’s episode, the panel discuss the impact of Jonatan Giráldez as the Barça manager bows out on a high, beating Lyon in a fantastic display in Spain at the weekend and Ceylon Andi Hickman talks about how it felt to clinch promotion with her Dulwich Hamlet side last week.

Despite the club season only just ending, the panel look ahead to the Lionesses’ European qualifiers against France and the Republic of Ireland ahead of next summer’s tournament. And finally, away from European football, it is the start of a new era as Emma Hayes takes charge of the USA for the first time against the Korea Republic. The panel try and foresee how she will get on.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini, Archie Rhind-Tutt and Sid Lowe for the final Europod of the season

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.

On the Europod today: we start in Germany by asking if Champions League finalists Dortmund are ready for Wembley, and whether Bayern Munich are ready for Vincent Kompany. Also, what’s next for Bayer Leverkusen after their undefeated league and Cup double?

Wembley is everywhere, and everywhere is Wembley. But the more bases it tries to cover, the less special it becomes

The Wembley Stadium lasagne had one major design flaw, and it’s not the one you think. You may remember – right at the start of the pandemic – the Football Association being forced to deny a viral WhatsApp story that the stadium was being used to bake a giant lasagne to feed a hungry nation. And no, if you gave it even a moment’s consideration, the undersoil pitch heating probably wouldn’t have been strong enough to recreate oven conditions. That’s before you even get to the issue of the roof not being fully retractable.

But let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that we could surmount these technical obstacles and get the thing cooked. Let’s imagine our national stadium is now a delicious, bubbling mess of layered pasta sheets, ragu, bechamel and melted cheese. Now to divide the thing up and get it to those who need it most. And this – hypothetically speaking – is where the problems begin.

The fans of Barça Femení were hopeful of a third consecutive Champions League triumph as photographer Hannah Cauhépé journeyed alongside them from Barcelona to Bilbao for the 2024 final against Lyon

On Sunday night, back in Barcelona, some people were wondering why some streets were blocked and people were decked in Barça gear – unfortunately, women’s football is still under the radar of most.

But things are slowly changing.

Barcelona fans make their way to Bilbao’s San Mamés stadium.

• Carlo Ancelotti is preparing for his sixth UCL final as a coach
• Real face Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on Saturday

Carlo Ancelotti has described Real Madrid as being in “Champions League mode” as they begin a week that is there to be enjoyed, at least until Saturday when the cold sweats will start.

The Italian and his team have been here before – the match against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley will be his sixth European Cup final as a coach, Real’s sixth in 10 years, and the 1,324th game Ancelotti has taken charge of in his career – and he says the nerves are normal, his routine ready to see him through. “I like to eat,” Ancelotti said.

US-bound coach won 10 trophies in three years in Catalonia, completed by the Champions League final win over Lyon

Fairytale endings rarely exist but sometimes in football, the script really does write itself. Jonatan Giráldez signed off on his three-year managerial career in Spain as his all-conquering Barcelona team lifted back-to-back Champions League trophies. It was the 10th piece of silverware that “Las Reinas” of both Spain and Europe have won under his time in charge, a side surely worthy of the “dynasty” accolade.

Barcelona’s supremacy did not start with Giráldez but his impact on this side’s journey is undeniable. The 32-year-old was Lluís Cortés’s assistant when they secured their first treble and inaugural Women’s Champions League title and he has continued that culture of winning with dominance both at home and on the European stage.

• Yokohama F.Marinos crushed 5-1 in Asian Champions League final
• Australian manager Kewell blames ‘shocking’ refereeing for loss

A furious Harry Kewell claims his side “got robbed by a bad referee” as his dream of outdoing his Australian predecessors by guiding Yokohama F.Marinos to an Asian Champions League triumph came to a bitter end.

Kewell’s Japanese side were humbled 5-1 by Al-Ain in the showdown in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, condemning them to a 6-3 defeat on aggregate and ending his ambition of guiding them to their first ACL trophy after just four months at the helm.

Bilbao is used to being decorated in stripes, the flags of their beloved Athletic Club hang from every other window, but on Saturday the city found itself swamped in less familiar colours, Barcelona’s red and blue filling every bar and populating every square as travelling fans celebrated beating Lyon in a Champions League final at the third time of asking.

It was their talismanic duo, the playmaker Aitana Bonmatí and their superstar Alexia Putellas, who delivered in front of 50,827 fans. Bonmatí’s effort took a deflection off Vanessa Gilles to take it past Christiane Endler shortly after the hour mark, before Putellas added the second three minutes after coming on deep into added time. It was deserved, the French champions were unable to handle the guile of the world’s best passers of the ball who secured a historic quadruple.

• Live updates from the 5pm BST kick-off in Bilbao
• Any comments? Feel free to email Emillia with your thoughts

Few teams have thwarted Barcelona in their ruthless prime, but the Champions League is Lyon’s playground. The French champions have beaten Barcelona in two Champions League finals, have never lost to them in the competition and hope to complete a hat-trick of final victories against them today.

Barcelona manager Jonatan Giráldez on today’s match: “For me, Barça and Lyon are the two best teams in Europe, without any doubt, because of the individual quality both teams have. If you analyse player by player, there’s certainly little to choose from.

Coach linked with Chelsea takes on Barcelona, having beaten them in 2022 final, knowing this could be her last Lyon game

Few teams have thwarted Barcelona in their ruthless prime, but the Champions League is Lyon’s playground. Although the Catalan club have provided the bulk of the Spain World Cup winners who have swept up individual awards in recent years and lifted domestic silverware aplenty, the French giants maintain bragging rights in Europe.

Lyon have beaten Barcelona in two Champions League finals, have never lost to them in the competition and hope to complete a hat-trick of final victories against them at San Mamés in Bilbao on Saturday.

In an exclusive interview the 32-year-old discusses his mindset, his tactics and facing Lyon in the Champions League final

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Barcelona’s Jonatan Giráldez has achieved the kind of success he never imagined, and it has only taken him three years. At 32 he has won nine of the 11 trophies available since he took over in 2021. On Saturday, as Barcelona play Lyon in the Champions League final, he can make it 10 out of 12.

One of the trophies that got away was last season’s Copa de la Reina as Barcelona were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player (needless to say they had won the game 9-0). The other one was tougher to take but now brings the team to a shot at redemption: the 2022 Champions League final loss to Lyon.

Al-Ain’s clash with Yokohama is next step for promising coaches and finale for tournament before Saudi revamp

It’s hard to look past the 2005 Champions League reunion of Harry Kewell and Hernán Crespo as they meet in the second leg of the final of the Asian version on Saturday. The Argentinian scored twice in Istanbul and yet left empty-handed while Kewell famously limped off when it was all going wrong for Liverpool but still has that winner’s medal. There’s more to the game however, on and off the pitch.

Crespo and Al-Ain welcome Yokohama F Marinos and their Australian manager to the United Arab Emirates. The Japanese team have a 2-1 lead from the first leg that took place two weeks ago at the Nissan Stadium. Crespo never won a Champions League as a player but overcoming that one goal deficit would surely set him on a course back to Europe.