Even the way they won it went by the familiar script. The same old story, if with a few new elements that Real Madrid can crow about. The club’s 15th Champions League is the first they have won at Wembley.

So, the European Cup finally goes from the home of football to the home of this competition – even though they’ve tried to destroy it with a Super League. That was all thanks to Carlo Ancelotti winning a fifth as a manager and another club stalwart becoming a club legend.

In scoring just the 13th goal of his Real Madrid career after 11 seasons, Dani Carvajal sent the club on the way to a 2-0 victory against a spirited but limited Borussia Dortmund. He adds his name to a legacy that includes Alfredo Di Stefano, Paco Gento, Ferenc Puskas, Predrag Mijatovic, Raul, Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo, Vinicius Jr… and if that by this point reads like the mere relaying of a list, that was almost the point.

Madrid barely had to go through the motions to win. Vinicius Jr even got his customary breakaway goal. Jude Bellingham gets his first Champions League medal to make it a double in his first season, even if this was not his finest game. It didn’t need to be.

It was all so inevitable.

Real needed two late goals to beat Dortmund 2-0 at Wembley.

The 20-year-old former Birmingham City player has grown into one of the best midfielders in world football, having joining Madrid last summer, and on the biggest club stage of all he picked up an assist as he set up Vinicius Jr for their second goal of the match, despite an otherwise quiet performance.

“I’ve always dreamed of playing in these games,” Bellingham told TNT Sports. “You go through life and there are so many people who say you can’t do things and days like today remind you why. It gets hard at times and you wonder whether it’s worth it but nights like tonight make you realise.

“I was all right until I saw my mum and dad’s face. My little brother is there and I’m trying to be a role model for him.

“I cannot put it into words. The best night of my life.”

The Real manager is speaking to Jules Breach. He says he’s “really happy”, and that it was a “difficult game”.

“It’s the history and tradition of this club, [and] of course the quality of the players.

“The atmosphere is great in the dressing room. It was not difficult to manage this club this season.”

“I don’t know what we are going to do tonight,” he adds.

“But we are not going to sleep!”

More from Jude Bellingham, who called tonight the best night of his life.

“I’ve always dreamed of playing in these games. You go through life and there are so many people saying you can’t do things and days like today remind you why [you do it].

“When it gets hard at times you start to wonder if it’s all worth it. Nights like tonight make it all worth it.”

The Englishman, who moved to Madrid from Dortmund for around €100m, finishes top of the assists chart in this season’s Champions League.

Real Madrid’s No 5 won them the Champions League against German opposition on British soil with a magnificent goal. But at Hampden Park, not Wembley; in 2002, not 2024; when it was Zinedine Zidane, not Jude Bellingham. A stunning volley against Bayer Leverkusen can still feel fresh, but it came the year before Bellingham’s birth.

In one respect, Bellingham is Zidane’s successor. In another, Dani Carvajal is. Real can win Champions League finals with extraordinary goals from remarkable players, as Gareth Bale can testify. Or they can win them with defenders applying the final touch from set-pieces, as Sergio Ramos proved. Or, in the 2020s, they can win them with Vinicius Junior strikes. The common denominator, almost the inevitability, is that Real win them. And so, at 20, Jude Bellingham joins Real’s list of Champions League winners. They are less a band than an army, given the size of them.

The near guarantee of glory is a reason players join Real. Yet Bellingham is not one to accept destiny as much as shape it. Even on what had started to feel like one of his poorest performances for Real, he ended with an assist in the biggest game of his life.

Madrid’s anthem rings around Wembley as Jose Mourinho consoles Edin Terzic and Real’s players run around the pitch celebrating.

For Dortmund fan Terzic, this defeat will hurt doubly, but his attention will soon turn to Dortmund’s domestic future and a need to rebuild an ageing squad.

For Calro Ancelotti, celebrations will continue for now, while behind the scenes Florentino Perez concocts a plan to keep Los Blancos at the top of European football for the foreseeable future.

Carlo Ancelotti collects his seventh Champions League winner’s medal, while Kroos, Nacho and Modric collect their sixth!

15 and counting for Los Blancos as Nacho raises the trophy!

Both sides are lining up for the medal ceremony and trophy lift now. The officials through first before Edin Terzic leads Dortmund through.

Jude Bellingham is the first to speak to TNT Sports, and he’s almost in tears as he talks.

He calls it “the best night of my life”, adding that “I have always dreamed of playing in these games”.

“You go through life and there are so many people who say you cannot do things. I was alright until I was in my mum and dad’s face.

“My little brother is there and I’m trying to be a role model for him. I cannot put it into words.”