Why Gregor Kobel’s Borussia Dortmund heroics are a bad sign for Champions League final chances vs. Real Madrid

Despite finishing fifth in the Bundesliga against all odds, Borussia Dortmund will have the chance to win their first Champions League title since 1997 on Saturday. Black and Yellow will face him facing a Real Madrid team in search of a 15th Champions League title, but the stature of a team has not yet shaken the German club in the tournament and will not start now. When examining how Dortmund managed to defy the odds, one of the main reasons was their goalkeeper Gregor Kobelwho helped keep PSG scoreless in both semi-final matches.

“We seem to feel comfortable in this situation [as underdogs] but I think it doesn’t really matter to us as a team whether we are considered underdogs or not. We have built a lot of confidence throughout this Champions League campaign,” Kobel told CBS Sports Golazo Network before the Champions League final. us and with this confidence we approach Saturday’s game as well.”

The Swiss goalkeeper has been in excellent form this season, leading all goalkeepers in saves with 42 and keeping clean sheets with six. Despite Paris Saint-Germain produced several attacks during the qualifiers against Dortmund, Kobel managed to cancel them out and secure a place in the final. Real Madrid’s Andriy Lunin’s 38 saves are the third most after Kobel, but no goalkeeper has prevented more than Kobel’s 7.09 goals in Champions League games. Lunin is in the top 10 with 2.12 goals avoided, but that still shows the difference between the pair.

Kobel is having one of the most impressive campaigns in the Champions League net since likely Los Blancos starter Thibaut Courtois. The Belgian has struggled with injuries this season, which is why Lunin has started most of Real Madrid’s Champions League games. After recovering ahead of schedule from a torn ACL, Courtois tore the meniscus in his knee, sidelining him until early May. Now playing 333 minutes of La Liga football to end the season without conceding a goal in those matches, Courtois is in good shape for what could be a huge battle between the goalkeepers.

Andre Onana holds the best season since 2019-20 for a goalkeeper for avoided goals that took Inter to the Champions League final, which they lost to City of Manchester last year, but the only goalkeeper who has had more than one season to crack the top 10 in that period is the Belgian between the sticks at Real Madrid.

But his presence on this list has not been good, as the two seasons in which he broke the list were those in which Real Madrid did not win the Champions League title. In fact, no goalkeeper on this list has won the Champions League title in the season in which they appeared in the top 10, which could spell doom for Borussia Dortmund.

Goals avoided by UCL campaign since 2019-20

While it makes sense that goalkeepers who are under too much pressure rarely win the Champions League final, Borussia Dortmund would be the perfect team to break that. They have faced all odds during their Champions League campaign, but with one of the best goalkeepers in the competition’s history at the other end of the pitch, Kobel will need to be on his game and more to win. Courtois in the final.