What happens in case of a tie in the 2024 Champions League final? Overtime, penalty kicks...

The Champions League final is edging closer and fans are counting the hours to watch Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid compete in Europe’s most important soccer club game.

The German side has been the standout team in the tournament this year, as nobody expected Erin Terzic’s men to get this far.

Dortmund not only survived the group of death, alongside AC Milan, PSG and Newcastle, but advanced to the knockout rounds as the best team. After that, they eliminated PSV to set up an exciting clash with Atlético Madrid. After losing at the Metropolitano, they came back in the second leg to book a spot in the semis against PSG. The French side was the favorite to make it to the final, but Terzic’s men defied the odds again and knocked Kylian Mbappé’s team out of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid have been unstoppable all season long. They have only lost one game over 90 minutes across all competitions, which indicates how solid Carlo Ancelotti’s players have been this campaign. After dominating and winning LaLiga, they have proven that the Champions League seems to be a tailor-made competition for them. After winning their group, they took out Leipzig in the round of 16, and their fighting spirit was strong enough to defeat top contenders Manchester City and Bayern Munich.

Is there extra-time and penalties in the Champions League final?

If there’s a tie over 90 minutes of the game, Dortmund and Real Madrid will head to extra-time, where a team could emerge victorious. However, if there’s no winning side after that period, they will have to go to a penalty shootout that will decide the European champion.

After the regulation 90, players will have a small break to recover and hydrate before getting into extra-time, which consists of two 15-minute periods. There will also be a brief interval between both of those halves, where both teams’ coaches will also have the opportunity to talk to their players before the final 15 minutes.

If one team scores more goals than the other one during the 30 minutes of extra time, they will become champions. Five Champions League finals have been decided in extra-time.

What if the final is still tied after extra-time? How does the penalty shoot-out work?

If everything remains the same and both teams are tied at the end of the extra time, they will be headed to a penalty shootout.

The teams will take five penalties each. The goal where the kicks will be taken and the team that will take the first kick will be decided by the referee by tossing a coin.

The players, led by the captain, will choose the first five players to take the kicks and the order. Each team takes one penalty alternately until both have taken five kicks. However, if one side has scored more goals than the other could reach with all of its remaining kicks, the shoot-out immediately ends.

If after five rounds of kicks, the teams remained tied in the number of goals scored - or neither team has scored any goals - sudden death will be required to determine the champion. It will consist of additional rounds of one kick each that will be used until one team scores and the other misses.

In the history of the European League/Champions League, 11 finals have been decided on penalties.