The 67th Champions League/European Cup final is just days away, and the city of Paris prepares itself for the arrival of two European heavyweights. Despite the city’s disappointment in their own club side, they are set to put on a footballing spectacle at the State de France as Liverpool and Real Madrid are set to meet on Saturday evening.

With this final being a repeat of the 2018 final in which Real Madrid left 3-1 victors, Liverpool will feel much more confident, experienced and dominant against this current crop of Real Madrid players, who have lost several of their key players from 4 years ago. Despite the player turnover for the Spanish champions, their run to the final will give them huge confidence, whereas Liverpool’s mental state may well be a question mark as this month saw them win their second domestic trophy in the FA Cup but also lose the Premier League title and any hope of the desired quadruple.

There are many uncertainties ahead of this final, but one thing is for sure, we are set for one hell of a football match. Two Balon d’Or contenders in the shape of Benzema and Salah, top level talents in every position and both teams in top form will create a huge clash on Saturday. Both clubs have illustrious history’s in this tournament, with Real Madrid being victorious in 13 European Cup finals in their history to Liverpool’s 6. To put that into other context, these two clubs account for 28% of the 67 editions of the tournament. With this game being a all or nothing matchup, both teams have everything to play for and will be feeling hugely confident, setting us up for one hell of a game.

So many questions for us to discuss and make bold (and ridiculous predictions) over in this preview, and we will do our best to give you our personal view of how the final could play out. If you have anything to add, question or ridicule us for, head over to Twitter (@NextGoalWinBlog) and tell us how you think this game plays out.

Form

Both sides approach the final in impeccable form, domestically and in the Champions League. Liverpool enter the final unbeaten in all competitions since early March and the Champions League defeat at home to Inter Milan (although ahead on aggregate). Real Madrid meanwhile are less consistent in this time period, however they walked to their league title and so have taken their foot off the gas in the closing rounds of fixtures. Their form makes worse reading, however the manner of results that they have is what will give the Spanish champions huge confidence.

In the 2021/2022 season, Liverpool have been massively impressive, coming just minutes away from a quadruple effort as the league title was lost on Sunday. They will regroup and look to put the disappointment aside for Saturday as they can claim 3 out of 4 trophies in Paris. With their near perfect form running all season, they will be full of confidence and the self-proclaimed ‘mentality monsters’ will be looking to end the season on a high as they take on Madrid in the French capital.

In the Champions League, their run to the final has perhaps arguably been easier as the rounds progressed, getting through the tough group of Atletico Madrid, Porto and AC Milan. Brushing these huge European sides aside with 6 wins from 6 and 17 goals scored in the process, they then faced Inter Milan in the round of 16 which perhaps was their only near-slip of the whole tournament. Having earnt a 2-0 first-leg lead, they then lost 1-0 in the return fixture and had a short-lived scare before seeing the game out. Going on to brush aside Benfica and then Villarreal in the semi-final, many have claimed their final few rounds have perhaps been kind, however the manner of victories including their huge 3-2 win in the semi-final 2nd leg will allow Liverpool and their supporters to disregard the critique of rival supporters. Averaging 2.5 goals per game, and 1.09 conceded, this sets the game up on paper as having potential to be high scoring, and Liverpool will look to dominate with their average 60% possession and 86% pass accuracy.

Real Madrid go into the final a little more disjointed in the form standings, having 2 wins, 2 draws and a loss in their last 5 games across all competitions. However, as mentioned, they will be fine with this record as their 2 draws and loss came with the league title already done and dusted, and it’s the win against Manchester City which will be stuck in the minds of the Madrid players and fans. Their comeback in the semi-final was one of the great moments in this years tournament. After avoiding a slip up against Chelsea in the quarter-finals, the semi-final matchup was truly remarkable as they took down the favourites for the tournament in Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in remarkable fashion at the death. This result is undoubtedly all Ancelotti will need to motivate his players, and having such a strong record in the tournament, their mixture of experience and youth will go to Paris unnerved by the test that lies ahead.

Real’s journey to the final is arguably the most difficult of any side in recent memory. Having overcome the shock result from Sheriff, they picked up wins in their other 5 group games against Inter Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk to qualify with relative ease. It’s their knockout run that has been most impressive, overcoming the huge talents of PSG and ending the dreams of Mbappe, Neymar and Messi thanks to the brilliance of Benzema, then getting past reigning champions Chelsea across both legs (again thanks to Benzema), and then in the aforementioned huge semi-final victory over Manchester City (again thanks to that man). Taking down 3 of the biggest sides in the whole competition, they will be aiming to make that 4 on Saturday as they look to add Klopp to their ‘takedown list’.

In the competition, Real have had solid stats although slightly lower than their opponents, averaging 2.34 goals per game, conceding 1.17. Meanwhile, they have an average of 50% possession and 87.5% pass accuracy. With both teams standing at well over 2 goals per game averages, we could see goals fly in Saturday’s final, or their strong defensive units may well nullify this attacking threat.

Aside from the individual form table, the head to head has Real Madrid coming out on top, with 4 wins to Liverpool’s 3 (and 1 draw). Their most recent matches were in the 2021 Champions League quarter-finals where Real came out 3-1 winners on aggregate. Although they went on to be knocked out in the semi’s, this gives them a solid head to head record and edges them in the history books. The most notable matchup between these two of course is the 2018 Champions League final, in which Salah had his infamous injury, Karius had a nightmare and Gareth Bale was on fire. Hopefully we don’t see the injury or goalkeeping nightmares again, however some of that drama would go down a treat.

Team News

Liverpool will be feeling mightily relieved as their injury woes may well be avoided in the final. After the nightmare for Mo Salah in the 2018 final, many feared history was repeating itself as he went off injured in the FA Cup final, however his return on Sunday on the Premier League final day signals he is 100% (or close enough) and ready for revenge on Real this coming weekend. Meanwhile, Van Dijk in a similar vein was a worry, however returned to the bench on Sunday to again signal the thumbs up ahead of Saturday. These two talismanic stars being available will give Liverpool and their supporters a huge boost and give them the confidence heading into the final.

With those two stars looking fine, Klopp’s attention will turn to Thiago Alcantara who didn’t appear to train with the squad midweek and could be a doubt, which will be a huge miss if unavailable given his recent impressive performances. In contrast Fabinho will be available for selection, and he will be relied upon to limit the influence of Benzema and cut off the service from the dangerous Madrid midfield.

The question mark of the current Liverpool side and fantastic dilemma for Klopp is which front 3 to use. With Mane-Salah-Diaz being the in-form crop, I would be expecting this to be the starting selection, however with Jota and Firmino certainly capable of breaking into this trio, it will be intriguing to see if he starts with Luis Diaz or utilises him later in the game.

Liverpool Predicted Line-up: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Robertson, Van Dijk, Konate; Fabinho, Henderson, Keita; Salah, Diaz, Mane

Carlo Ancelotti was able to rest up many key players for the final few weeks of the season as his side had already wrapped up their title victory, and as a result is left with a clean bill of health aside from Marcelo at left back who has a leg injury keeping him out of contention. With Real Madrid having a full, fit squad to be choosing from, Ancelotti will feel confident of going the distance with Klopp’s side even if the additional 30 minutes are required in extra-time.

The talk around the Real Madrid team selection is based around Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard, with Bale likely playing his final game for the Spanish side if he features, and Hazard desperate to revitalise and actually get started with impressing the Madrid faithful after his big money move several years ago. It’s unlikely either will break into the starting XI, however in the closing stages with their side needing some attacking prowess, Bale may well be used to repeat his 2018 antics, or Hazard introduced to add to his 7 goals against the team from Merseyside.

Real Madrid Predicted Line-up: Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; Kroos, Casemiro, Modric; Valverde, Vinicius Jr, Benzema

Predictions

Of all the games to make predictions on, the Champions League final is one of the most uncertain. These games can go down as all-out attacking encounters with both sides leaving it all on the line, or bore-draws with neither competitor wanting to slip up and give their opponent an inch. Therefore, our safest prediction, and the route we are taking is somewhere down the middle.

Our prediction, is that Real Madrid will be leaving Paris victorious, with Liverpool having to settle for a domestic cup double from their impressive campaign. I’m going to say the score line will be something like 2-1 to Ancelotti’s side, and it may well be an extra-time winner that takes the trophy back to the Bernabéu. For predicted goalscorers, I am going with the obvious of Benzema and Salah netting in normal time, however I think it will be 21 year old Vinícius Júnior who grabs the late winner in either stoppage time or extra-time to settle the tie for good. My bold prediction for the game is that there will be a red-card dished out. I wouldn’t want to speculate as to who or where, but my gut feeling is telling me someone will be sent for an early bath in the final.

Although these predictions go against all the data being produced ahead of Saturday, with Liverpool coming out at almost 50% favourite (draw 25%/Real Madrid 25%), the Spanish giants just love this competition. As the club have won just shy of 1 in 5 Champions League titles, and without the trophy since the aforementioned 2018 victory, they are desperate to bring the trophy back into their grasp, and Mr Champions League, Carlo Ancelotti will make magic happen once again as his side get over the line in the final. Liverpool meanwhile will be reeling from the disappointment of Sunday’s league result and the obvious mental drop form competing for a quadruple and creating an unmatched legacy, to regain their determination may well hinder them, even at a subconscious level. They will have plenty of silverware in their future, but in Paris on Saturday, it’s going to be Los Blancos who take the trophy.

Whatever happens from our predictions, and no matter the outcome, this game is the big one, the biggest night of the whole season and an opportunity to see these hugely historic sides battle it out once again. With some of the greatest footballers around competing, as a neutral, we can sit back and enjoy, and if you support either side, well you’re in for a pretty nervy week.