The highest profile cup competition in club football reaches its climax next Saturday in the Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kiev with 2 of the most successful teams in European history. Spanish giants, and back to back winners Real Madrid take on Liverpool - the most successful British team in European history.
The clubs have appeared in 22 Finals between them, with Real winning 12 of their 15 appearances, and Liverpool 5 of their 7.
Real have won the last 2 Champions League Finals, having beaten their Madrid rivals Atletico in a penalty shootout in 2016, and then Juventus 4-1 last year.
You have to go back to 2005 for Liverpool’s last success in the competition, but who can ever forget it? 3-0 down at half time against AC Milan they produced a stunning comeback to level the match at 3-3 and went on to win a penalty shootout. Although that wasn’t the Merseyside teams most recent time in the final, as the Italian side got revenge 2 years later winning 2-1 in the 2007 Final.
One of the three finals that Real have lost though was to the Merseyside team, although it was back in 1981 (when it was called the European Cup) when Liverpool won 1-0 thanks to a goal from left back Alan Kennedy.
They have also played each other four times in earlier rounds of the competition within the last 10 years, with both teams winning 2 games each.
The match pits the Champions League scorer Madrid’s Christiano Ronaldo up against the Premier League’s top scorer in Mo Sallah.
Neither team has domestically had the best of seasons, with Real currently sitting 3rd in the league – 3 points behind Atletico, and a whopping 15 behind their fierce rivals Barcelona with just 1 game left, and Liverpool only secured a place in next years Champions League last Sunday in the final game of the season finishing 4th in the Premier League 25 points behind champions Man City.
Man City however were put out of this seasons premier European competition impressively by Liverpool in the quarter-finals 5-1 on aggregate. The other teams defeated en-route to the finally The Reds included a group containing another Spanish side in Sevilla, as well as Spartak Moscow, and Maribor, before Porto in the Round of 16, and Roma in the Semi’s.
Real Madrid on the other hand faced a tougher task getting to the final, progressing out of a group that contained Tottenham Hotspur, Borussia Dortmund, and Apoel, and then the Knockout phase containing big spending PSG in the Round of 16, the team they faced in the final last year in Juventus in the quarters, and the German giants Bayern Munich in the semi’s.
The match can be seen exclusively live on BT Sport on Saturday 26th May, and for more information please check out the Champions League official website here.
