Liverpool v Real Madrid Head-to-Head

The Champions League final is one of the biggest games in club football, if not the biggest. Certainly in terms of TV rights, column inches and airtime. It is when bookmakers such as oddschecker pull out their biggest offers, in a betting market that comes only second to the world cup. From a player’s perspective, there is no better winner’s medal to have around your neck and from a manager’s one there’s no better trophy to have on your CV.

This year’s final pitches together two of the most successful clubs when it comes to Europe’s Blue Riband tournament, as well as two of the most passionate sets of fans in Real Madrid and Liverpool. It is all set to be a mouth-watering spectacle on and off the pitch in the French capital on the 28^th of May, the conclusion to what has been the most dramatic of tournaments.

Real Madrid

There are many who would argue that Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid have their name written on the trophy already. Not only are they the most successful team in the trophy’s history with 13, but their Italian manager is tied with ex Liverpool manager Bob Paisley and Zinedine Zidane as the most successful manager in the competition, with three wins. The way they got through successive knockout games against PSG, Chelsea and Manchester City does make you think that it is written in the stars for Los Blancos this year.

Having already won La Liga, they have the luxury of being able to rest key players going into the final, and as well as the man in the dugout, they have players all over the field who know what it is like to not just play in Champions League finals but to win them.

Liverpool

Compared with their opponents, Liverpool’s route to the final was far less dramatic, apart from 45 minutes at Villarreal. Like Madrid, they are a team and have a manager that know how to win this competition, but unlike their Spanish opponents, they are not in a position to take it easy in the run-up to the final in Paris. They have (at the time of writing) an FA Cup final clash with Chelsea coming up, and though their EPL chances seem to have slipped away, are still battling with Real’s defeated semi-final opponents Manchester City and will not give that fight up until what looks like will be the last game of the season.

The intensity of their play does seem to have taken its toll on the team. They have crucial injuries and they have not looked the all-conquering force that they did just a couple of months ago. Their fans will hope that by the time the players line up in Paris they will have regained their verve.  

Liverpool v Real Madrid Head-to-Head

There are mouth-watering battles wherever you look in this fixture, on all areas of the pitch as well as between two of the greats in modern football management. Not least is the one between perhaps the greatest striker and the best defender plying their trade at the moment.

The two teams have played each other eight times over their history, every game, as you would expect from two giants of the European game, coming in the Champions League or its predecessor.

Of those eight games, Liverpool have won three times, Madrid four times, with one match, the last time they played, ending in a goalless draw. Twice they have met in the final of this competition. In 1981 the two sides faced off for the first-ever time, in the final in the Parc des Princes, Paris. Liverpool fans will be hoping that will serve as an omen, as they won by the only goal. The other final was in 2018, when Madrid, managed by Zidane beat Klopp’s Liverpool 3-1 in Kyiv.

Of late, Madrid have had far the better of proceedings, winning four and drawing one of the last five meetings. Whatever happens in Paris on the last weekend in May, it will be something that will be talked about for years to come.