UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL
May 28
LIVERPOOL VS REAL MADRID
The most successful club in Champions League history and the most successful English side in Champions League history are going for one more title to add to their collection.
Liverpool chasing their 7th title.
Real Madrid is chasing their 14th title.
Real Madrid’s most recent title – 2018
Liverpool’s most recent title – 2019
Both teams have lost three finals each in their history. One will be making it their fourth.
The last time Real Madrid lost a Champions League final was in 1981 (against Liverpool); it was played in Paris as well.
The last time Liverpool lost a Champions League final was in 2018 (against Real Madrid).
May 27, 1981: LIVERPOOL 1-0 REAL MADRID
May 26, 2018: REAL MADRID 3-1 LIVERPOOL
Liverpool will move above Bayern Munich and equal AC Milan’s titles if they get a win.
Real Madrid will stretch their lead at the top of the pile to 6 titles.
On the domestic front, Liverpool has secured two domestic cups in England but missed out on the league title by a point.
Real Madrid did not win any domestic title but they won the Spanish league title by 13 points.
REAL MADRID went through Paris St. Germain, Chelsea, and Manchester City.
Three tournament favorites. Real Madrid arrived at this final by knocking out last season’s finalists: Chelsea and Manchester City.
Despite being the group winner, Real Madrid’s path to the final is what clubs try to avoid by topping their group in the preliminary rounds.
The knockout round for Real Madrid has been a case of coming from a losing position to getting an improbable victory against teams that were arguably the better side on the day.
Real Madrid found three needed goals to knock out Paris St. Germain (a tournament favorites) in the Round of 16, they had to recover from a losing position to regain a lead in the quarterfinals against Chelsea (defending champions), and then more dramatic comeback against Manchester City (last season’s runner-up) in the semifinal with two goals in the last 2 minutes of the game.
Three teams have beaten Real Madrid in the tournament this season; Manchester City, Paris St. Germain, and (shockingly) Sheriff Tiraspol.
September 28, 2021: Real Madrid 1–2 Sheriff Tiraspol: Real Madrid’s first home game of the campaign was a defeat to a team that was founded in 1997.
Sheriff Tiraspol made history this season by becoming the first Moldovan team to qualify for the Champions League group stage. They commemorated the occasion by kicking off the tournament with a home win against Shakhtar Donetsk and followed it up with a win in their first away game (against Real Madrid at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu).
LIVERPOOL has a 100% winning record in the group stage.
Liverpool played against both Milan clubs (AC Milan in the group and Inter Milan in the Round of 16), against two Portuguese giants (Porto in the group stage, Benfica in the quarterfinals), and have already played against two Spanish teams ( Atletico Madrid in the group stage and Villarreal as their last opponent before the final).
After Bayern Munich’s unexpected elimination at the quarterfinal stage, the pathway for Liverpool to the Champions League final was relatively more attractive than Real Madrid’s pathway.
As things stand, Inter Milan has been the only team to beat Liverpool in this campaign.
March 8, 2022: Liverpool England 0–1 Italy Inter Milan: Lautaro Martinez scored the only goal of the game to get Inter Milan to cut the deficit in half with a win at Anfield in the ‘Round of 16’ second-leg.
