Champions League Final: Hummels, Reus hope to set things right at Wembley

Eleven years after a heartbreaking Champions League final loss to arch-rivals Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund veterans Mats Hummels and Marco Reus are returning to Wembley on Saturday to set things right.

This time around, 14-time winners Real Madrid, who eliminated Bayern in typical last-gasp fashion in the semi-finals, stand in the way.

Hummels, 35, and 34-year-old Reus face an uncertain future ahead of what is likely their last Champions League final. Reus has already announced Saturday’s match will be his last for Dortmund.

Hummels, whose contract expires in the summer, said he was “excited to see what Saturday’s match triggers in me and then I’ll make a decision sometime in June”.

Adding a Champions League victory, the first for each, would be a fitting farewell for two modern Dortmund greats.

Managed by Jurgen Klopp, Dortmund came into 2012-13 having won back-to-back titles, including a league and cup double in 2011-12.

They made it to Wembley with an exciting young team seemingly on course for more success.

Hummels, a modern defender who blended attacking flair with shrewd game understanding, had established himself at the heart of Germany’s defence.

Reus, a Dortmund junior who made his senior debut at the club in 2012-13 after a stint at Borussia Moenchengladbach, appeared to be the country’s next great attacking talent, having just been named Germany’s Footballer of the Year.

That loss to Bayern would instead be the beginning of the end of Dortmund’s time in the sun.

Klopp left the club in 2015, joining Liverpool five months later, where he has made three Champions League finals, winning one, with both losses coming against Real Madrid.

Hummels returned to Bayern, where he had come through the junior system, in search of Champions League glory.

The defender’s quest was unsuccessful however.

With questions around his age and health, Hummels returned to Dortmund three years later — and Bayern lifted the Champions League the following season.

Five years after returning to Dortmund, Hummels is in the midst of a career renaissance, named Man of the Match in both semi-finals having kept Paris Saint-Germain and superstar Kylian Mbappe goalless.