Edin Terzić on Dortmund defeat: 'We weren’t just here to play a final but were here to win a final so we have mixed feelings'

Macdara Ferris reports from Wembley

The trophy presentation confetti had all fallen from the sky and the final few fans had left the stadium when Edin Terzić came to talk to the media after his team’s 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid. 

His Borussia Dortmund side hadn’t been given much hope ahead of the Champions League final but had made Los Blancos work really hard for their record extending 15th European crown.

“Congratulations to Real Madrid, to Mr Carol Ancelotti and his team,” was how the 41-year-old manager began. “We faced a true champion today.

“After a Champions League Final that we lost, it is hard to find the right words. I have a chaos of emotions. I’m proud but also disappointed and empty.

"It was the final game of the season so there are players that are leaving the club so it was emotional in the dressing room afterwards.”

He could rightly take pride in the manner of his team’s performance which forced Real into a formation change at half-time.

“We saw a great final from two sides and what is really good was that we showed from the first whistle we weren’t just here to play a final but were here to win a final so we have mixed feelings. 

“We were in a good game. It was very even in the first half and in the first 20 minutes of the second half but the quality of our opponents was incredible.

"We were dangerous in ball possession, very dangerous on the counter but we couldn’t manage to score and that was the key for not winning the game.”

Saturday night’s result means that his team miss out on a trophy in both of his seasons in charge of BVB.

There was the heartbreaking title loss on goal difference in the 2022/23 Bundesliga when they could only draw with Mainz on the final day, and now this second Wembley Champions League final defeat for Dortmund.

The yellow wall had moved brick by brick to London. BVB fans included the last manager to win them the Bundesliga with Jürgen Klopp shown on the big screen in the stadium singing along with supporters to ‘You’ll never walk alone’ ahead of kick off.

“We heard that nearly 100,000 fans came to London. The support from our fans was incredible. They believed in us; they believed we could beat Real Madrid.

"We can only say thank you for that belief. Now the biggest challenge is to keep this belief high. We will bounce back and learn from this.”

Terzić spoke warmly about the “gifted” Manchester United loanee Jadon Sancho but couldn’t offer an update on his future at Dortmund. “Jadon has been brilliant for us in the last six months. He improved his game and all the players around him.”

And with that Terzić offered a “thank you very much and have a good summer” as he headed for home with the curtain coming down on his club’ season.

In a fortnight EURO 2024 will begin in Germany and the draw for the qualifying round for the Champions League will take place - the first fixture of the next year’s competition to take place in just 28 days time.

Hala Madrid for Los Blancos hero Carlo Ancelotti: ‘I have the luck to be at the best club in the world’ - https://t.co/94rjArr8tjhttps://t.co/0iyjeBYMpG

— extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) June 2, 2024