Saturday 26th May 1945hrs Real Madrid v Liverpool Football – Europe – Champions League The Champions League final is the pinnacle of club football in Europe and each year the occasion is seen as being the finale of the season. It’s been another action-packed campaign with plenty of entertainment and some controversy thrown in for good measure. Liverpool and Real Madrid are two clubs synonymous with the competition and will do battle in Kiev on Saturday night to add another chapter to their illustrious histories. Between them they have won 17 European Cups/Champions Leagues but they are successful because they always crave more. Real are looking to win an unprecedented third straight win whilst Liverpool are hoping to win their first in 13 years. It promises to be a memorable encounter.
When Real dispatched Juventus in Cardiff last year they had an air of invincibility about them. Despite Juve being by far and away the best team aside from the Spanish giants in Europe 12 months ago, they barely laid a glove on Real in the final and Zinedine Zidane’s men would have been dreaming of what was to come. Some of those dreams would have been curtailed earlier on this season as they struggled for form and were cast adrift in their defence of La Liga. At the turn of the year there was widespread expectation that Zidane would have to leave. Being drawn against PSG – who had been super impressive in the group stages and had Neymar in their ranks – in the first knockout stage looked to have them up against it but that tie set the tone for their route to yet another Champions League final. The holders were second best for large parts of the first leg but they got the lead and kept their noses in front. That’s been similar in wins over Juventus and Bayern Munich and whilst they have shown some real quality at times, there have also been instances where they have majorly rode their luck. All that will be forgotten, however, if they can win on Saturday.
Although Liverpool have a rich history in this competition, even the most diehard fans may not have believed they would be making the trip to Kiev for an appearance in the final if you asked them at the start of the season. Not only have Liverpool failed to make their mark in the Champions League of late, even qualifying for the competition has been a rarity over the last few years. It’s their first participation since 2014/15 and having finished fourth in the Premier League last season, had to start in the playoff round. They duly seen off Hoffenheim and despite making life more difficult than they had to be in the group stage, qualified top of their section which set up a last 16 clash with Porto. Looking back, it was arguably the performance in Portugal that got their fans excited and hoping. That hope was hugely strengthened when being drawn in an all-English quarter final against Manchester City. City had proven far too good over the course of a league campaign but Liverpool had their measure in the Champions League and deservedly won through to set up a semi-final against Roma. As they have done so often this season, the Reds powered their way into a lead only to concede sloppy goals in both legs. An aggregate win of 7-6 suggests it was closer but Liverpool were far superior and are now within a game of winning their sixth European Cup.
Real’s last two finals have been very different affairs. They rode their luck when facing off against arch rivals Atletico in the San Siro two seasons ago, eventually winning on penalties, but as noted earlier they proved to be far too good for Juve 12 months ago in Cardiff. As demonstrated several times already in their route to this final they just have an ability to win games no matter how they pan out. Bayern Munich can certainly testify to that having been defeated in the last seasons by Zidane’s men despite appearing to be the better of the two both times. Some have called them lucky but I would point to it as being an unwavering belief they have in themselves.
Liverpool have scored more goals than any other team in history of the competition to reach the final which indicates where their biggest strength lies. The front three of Firmino, Salah and Mane have been exceptional throughout but Jurgen Klopp has identified that and set up the rest of the team to enable that trio to go and win games for them. Although Klopp will have some idea as to how to take advantage of Real’s weaknesses, it looks like a simple approach to success – isolate Madrid’s defenders as much as possible with his attacking players and bank on their individual brilliance.
Real Madrid v Liverpool Betting Tip
For all Real’s doubters, you only have to point to their passage to the final and realise that it could barely have been any more difficult. PSG, Juve and Bayern have all had 180 minutes to get the better of the current champions and all three have failed. There’s some school of thought that Zidane’s men are more vulnerable in a one off game and I can see the logic in that but you have to respect a team who have three of the last four Champions League finals and that experience could prove invaluable. Liverpool will adopt the role of the underdog which they have only done against City in their run to the final. It’s unlikely to affect them though and there is a growing confidence that they can cause the upset with so many goals and attacking flair in their ranks.
I’ve mentioned the goals that exist in the Liverpool team but Real have the best goal scorer this competition has ever seen in Cristiano Ronaldo. He continues to break records and remains the biggest threat to a Liverpool defence that has looked extremely frail at times. The same can be said about Real’s, of course, which just means this fixture screams goals. It’s not overly surprising that the finalists are the two top scorers in this year’s Champions League with a combined total of 70. Liverpool better Real by 10 in that respect and the smart money is on those numbers being added to. Over 2.5 is the normal line for these games but little point in going there for this game, instead back over 3.5 goals in a game that could easily contain five plus.
Over 3.5 goals 119/100 @ Marathon Bet
