UEFA Champions League Final: Real Madrid vs Liverpool

The UEFA Champions League is the biggest club game in European football and probably the biggest club competition in the world. As its name says, it is a league of champions that pits the winners of each UEFA or Union of European Football Associations against each other in a tournament that is held annually from May to June of each year.

Rebranded in 1992, the UEFA Champions League replaced the European Champions Club Cup which began 63 years ago, by adding a group stage to allow multiple entries from some countries. Previously, the tournament was a knockout system type which only included the champion club of each country. But the format was expanded in the 1990s to include a round-robin stage that included the second placers of several countries’ top-level leagues. Because of that revision, some of Europe’s top national leagues even have up to five representatives in the tournament.

How Did We Get Here?

The current format starts with three knockout stage qualifying rounds where the 10 surviving clubs advance to the group stage where they join the 22 automatic qualifiers. The 32 clubs are then drawn into eight groups composed of four clubs per group. They play each other in a home and away double round-robin leg. The winners and runners-up of each group move on to the home and away knockout stage Round of 16. The quarterfinals and semifinals follow the same knockout format and the tournament culminates with a winner take all Finals match.

The winner of the UEFA Champions League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA World Club Cup. Spain has the most number of wins at the UEFA Champions League with 17 while clubs from England and Italy have won the UEFA Champions League 12 times apiece.

The Champions League has seen 22 different winners, 12 of which have won the tournament more than once. England has the most number of winning teams with five different clubs hoisting the Champions League trophy. Among clubs, Real Madrid has most victories with 12, including the first five installments of the tournament.

Who Will Be Playing?

The Los Blancos are the current defending champion, having beaten Juventus 4-1 in the 2017 final. They are the first team in Champions League era to successfully defend their title and they are hoping to add another piece of history by winning a third title in a row.

Real Madrid booked a third straight trip to the UEFA Champions League final with a 4-3 aggregate victory over Bayern Munich in the semifinals. Marco Asensio was the hero in Bavaria as Real won the first leg 2-1. After facing strong resistance at the Santiago Bernabeu, Karim Benzema scored twice to send Real Madrid back to the finals.

Real Madrid vs Liverpool
UEFA Champions League Final
Odds: Real Madrid – 165, Liverpool +135

Liverpool also had a thrilling semi-final tie against Roma. In the first leg, Mohamed Salah powered the Merseysiders to a 5-2 win at Anfield. But the Italians applied plenty of pressure and nearly forced extra time with a 4-2 victory in the second leg. But as it is, Liverpool will now shoot for a sixth UEFA Champions League title against two time defending champions Real Madrid in Saturday’s final which will be held at the over 70,000 capacity NSC Olimpiyski Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine.

These clubs have split their previous four meetings with Real Madrid emerging victorious, 1-0, in their most recent match in November 2014. The Last time the Reds won was in March of 2009.

Real Madrid’s Championship Experience

The Los Blancos have been there and have done that. They have won five times since 2000 and Zinedine Zidane is looking to become the first coach to win three consecutive European Cups. With their championship experience, their guys won’t have any opening jitters regardless of how the first 15 minutes are going to play out.

Real Madrid’s offensive attack is led by no other than Cristiano Ronaldo who has been on a tear as of late. Ronaldo has scored 30 goals in his last 21 games for club and country. The Los Blancos star has 28 goals in his last 21 Champions League games. He is priced at -140 to score at any time during the 90-minute match.

Given his former Manchester United days, you bet Cristiano Ronaldo is going to have extra motivation to win this match. Gareth Bale is the other double-digit scorer for the Los Blancos. He enters the final red hot after scoring five goals in four La Liga matches. Bale is a +145 to score at any point during the match.

Unlike Real Madrid, not a single player on Liverpool’s roster has UEFA Champions League final experience. Despite that, the trio of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, and Sadio Mane, who combined to score 29 goals, gives the Reds a real fighting chance against any club. When Liverpool is on the attack, they are the most explosive offense in the league.

Egyptian star Mohamed Salah has scored 11 goals in the Champions League this season and has 8 in his last 10 all competition games. Salah is available at -130 to score. Firmino is pegged at +175 while Mane is at +200 to score anytime during the match.

Liverpool’s Improved Defense

The Los Blancos are favored here at -165 while the Reds came back at +135. You can make a good case for either squad here, really because these clubs are led by the some of the best players in the world and they both have explosive offensive games and are capable of turning the match to their side quickly.

But obviously, Real Madrid is the safe bet here owing to their experience and championship pedigree. It’s a huge plus when your players have been in these big moments before and they already know what to expect and how to react to the big stage. When the Los Blancos are pushing that offensive machine, they are a tough bunch to slow down.

However, we know what Liverpool is capable of doing, offensively. Mohamed Salah runs the Reds’ engine and if he shows up in the final, we could see Liverpool pulling off the upset. The key in this match could be their much-improved defense since the acquisition of Virgil van Dijk early this year.