It’s the time of year to conclude the most prestigious competition in Europe.
On Saturday 26th May Real Madrid aim to win their record 13th Champions League title against Liverpool, an unlikely finalist.
Liverpool is in their first Champions League Finals in 11 years; two years after losing to Sevilla in the Europa League Final, while Real Madrid’s track record in Europe has been spectacular in recent years aiming to achieve their record 3rd consecutive Champions League title.
However, in their respective domestic leagues, both teams had a poor season compared to last year where Real Madrid won the Champions League and La Liga but finished 3rd while Liverpool finished 1 point lower than last year in fourth spot.
Road to Kyiv
Real Madrid beat French champions Paris Saint Germain in the last 16, the Italian champions Juventus in the quarter finals and the German champions Bayern Munich in the semi-finals.
While Liverpool beat the Portuguese champions Porto in the last 16, the English champions Manchester City in the quarter finals and the team who beat the current Spanish champions in the previous round, Roma in the semi-finals.
In retrospect, both teams’ Champions League runs show they deserve to be in the finals but not without controversies.
Nonetheless, Liverpool has scored 5 goals or more in their knockout stages while Real Madrid’s first leg domination gave them the advantage over their opponents, therefore, the one-off finals will show who wants to win more.
Key Players
Mohammed Salah had a sensational season, breaking records and collecting several personal awards and tipped for Ballon d’Or. That is if he helps Liverpool win the Champions League, but his recent form should be questioned after scoring 1 goal in his last 4 games.
While Cristiano Ronaldo may have aged and had a long goal drought in the beginning season, he has been playing as a traditional striker showing his deadliness in front of goal.
Even though both teams are lethal on the attack, they both have defensive woes regarding their keepers. Keylor Navas and Loris Karius both have been inconsistent which resulted in goals that should not have been conceded.
Liverpool weakness is their inexperience especially with their 19-year-old right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold who managed to contain the threat of Leroy Sane for Manchester City, but his mistakes resulted in Roma scoring two goals in their tie. Therefore, Real Madrid will exploit this weakness.
However, Real Madrid may be arrogant after beating Athletico Madrid and Juventus in the past two finals and see Liverpool as an inferior to them so Liverpool may surprise them with their gameplay.
Predictions
This will be an open and high scoring game, but I think the team who wants it more will win which is Liverpool.
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