Real Madrid defeated Inter Milan 2–1 in the UEFA Champions League final on Friday night at San Siro, securing the Spanish club's 16th European trophy and capping Carlo Ancelotti's record-extending sixth Champions League title as a manager. The Italian manager becomes the first head coach in football history to win the competition six times.
The decisive goal arrived in the 81st minute when Jude Bellingham, anonymous for much of the second half, latched onto a Vinícius Jr. cutback at the edge of the six-yard box and finished low past Yann Sommer. Inter had equalised in the 64th minute through Lautaro Martínez, who converted a penalty after Aurélien Tchouaméni was adjudged to have brought down Marcus Thuram in the box.
How the match unfolded
Real Madrid took the lead in the 23rd minute through a header from Antonio Rüdiger, meeting a Toni Kroos free kick. The German defender, in his ninth Champions League final, climbed above Federico Dimarco at the near post to direct the ball into the bottom corner. The goal silenced an Inter-leaning crowd that had been treated to a structured Italian attacking display through the opening twenty minutes.
Simone Inzaghi's Inter responded with extended periods of pressure through the back end of the first half, with Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Henrikh Mkhitaryan recycling possession in midfield against a Real Madrid that, as has been its pattern under Ancelotti this season, was content to absorb pressure and counter-attack on transition.
The second half opened with Inter pushing higher up the pitch. The 64th-minute penalty came after a sustained spell of Italian pressure, with Tchouaméni's clumsy challenge on the through-ball into the box leaving the referee no decision to make. Martínez calmly placed the spot kick into the bottom-left corner.
The decisive seventeen minutes
The 81st-minute Bellingham goal originated from a Federico Valverde counter-attack down the right flank, with Vinícius Jr. cutting inside before laying the ball back across the face of goal. Bellingham, making a delayed run from deeper midfield, swept the ball home with his right foot. The goal was the English midfielder's eighth in this season's Champions League and his fifteenth in the competition since joining Madrid in 2023.
Inter responded with a cluster of late chances. Lautaro Martínez forced Thibaut Courtois into a sharp save in the 88th minute. Marcus Thuram had a header from a Calhanoğlu corner cleared off the line by Eduardo Camavinga in the 90th. The Italian club's late surge fell short, and Real Madrid saw out the seven minutes of stoppage time with characteristic composure.
The Ancelotti record
Ancelotti's sixth Champions League victory as a head coach extends a record he established in 2024. The Italian, who turns 67 in June, has won the competition with two clubs — A.C. Milan in 2003 and 2007, and Real Madrid in 2014, 2022, 2024 and 2026. He is the only manager in football history to win the European Cup or Champions League with two different clubs and to do so six times.
"This squad has earned everything they have achieved," Ancelotti said in the post-match press conference. "I am proud of the maturity they showed in the second half. We knew Inter would come at us after the equaliser. We were ready."
The victory caps Ancelotti's third season in his current spell at Madrid. The Italian's contract, which had been due to expire at the end of this season, was extended by mutual agreement in March through the 2027/28 season, sources at the club confirmed.
Real Madrid's domestic context
The Champions League victory comes alongside a domestic season that has been less straightforward for the Spanish club. Real Madrid currently sits second in La Liga with two matches remaining, four points behind league leaders Atlético Madrid. The Madrid derby on May 11 will determine whether the title race is decided on the final matchday or settled the weekend before.
Bellingham's performance was named UEFA Man of the Match. The 22-year-old has now scored in two Champions League finals — having found the net against Borussia Dortmund in 2024 — and won the competition's Young Player of the Season award twice. His total goal contribution across all competitions for Real Madrid this season stands at 31 goals and 14 assists from 51 appearances.
Inter's reaction
Inzaghi's Inter Milan, returning to the Champions League final for the first time since 2023, will reflect on a performance that came close to denying the Italian club's seventeen-year wait for European glory. The Nerazzurri last won the European Cup in 2010 under José Mourinho.
"We are proud of the players. We came here against the team that has won this competition more than any other, and we made them work for every metre," Inzaghi said. "The penalty changed the game. We pushed for the second goal. The football is sometimes cruel."
The Italian manager is expected to remain at Inter for the 2026/27 season, with the club's hierarchy publicly endorsing his tenure in the days leading up to the final. Inter Milan will compete in the FIFA Club World Cup in June and begin their 2026/27 Champions League campaign in the league phase set to be drawn in late August.
Trophy presentation
Real Madrid captain Dani Carvajal, who had returned from a long-term knee injury for the latter stages of the season, lifted the trophy alongside long-serving teammate Luka Modrić, who has now been part of seven Champions League-winning Madrid squads in his thirteen-year career at the club. The 39-year-old Croatian has confirmed that this is his final Champions League season, with retirement from club football scheduled for the summer of 2027.
The post-match scenes at San Siro, with white shirts and fireworks against the iconic stadium architecture, will be remembered as the closing chapter of Modrić's European career and the latest line in a Real Madrid legacy that now stretches across nine decades and 16 European Cups.