The UEFA Champions League Finals are set to take place on Saturday night at the famous Stade de France in Paris. Two of the European football royalties, Liverpool and Real Madrid, face in the battle for the trophy, and to be perfectly straight with you, they were the two teams that showed the most in this year’s edition. We are sure that many have different views on Real, but in order to pull an upset as they did on Man City, you have to be special.
Preview
Liverpool
The Reds were in the race to winning the EPL up until the last 15 minutes, but in the end, Citizens took the trophy of the English champions, leaving L’pool behind. Though, all that will be forgotten if they win on Saturday. Klopp and his machinery would be recognized as one of the best generations in the club’s history, with two continental titles.
Liverpool won the past four games and has nine in the most recent 10 events, meaning that this team is in solid shape. Since Klopp took over the wheel, the Reds’ biggest weapon was the offense. Salah, Mane, Firmino, Diaz, and other players are easily transformed from defenders to danger for a goal.
When playing on the road, Liverpool posts very efficient games, and six of the previous eight were with more than 2.5 goals or with both teams to score. We noticed that the backline was a bit shaky in these events, but forwards covered up everything.
Real Madrid
Carlo Ancelotti once again showed why he is one of the best managers of all time. We do need to mention that this crew is limited in many aspects of the game, and that they have relatively unknown young players despite them appearing for the biggest club in the world. Yet, Ancelotti’s ability to melt all of them into a perfect mixture is something that erases all the minuses.
Los Blancos also have Karim Benzema, who scored 44 goals in 44 games this year and is the leading favorite for winning the Golden Ball this season. His productivity in the UEFA Champions league is even better, 15 hits in 10 clashes, which is incredible, you have to admit.
Real secured the title a while ago, and Ancelotti’s unit didn’t play the previous few events with full power, which is why the most recent three were with under 2.5 goals. Though when looking at the road games, the majority were with over 2.5 goals and with both teams netting over the past two months.
Head to Head Games
Liverpool and Real met in the last year’s UCL quarterfinals. Real was better in Madrid, beating the Reds 3-1, while the rematch and Anfield ended without goals.
We need to say that Liverpool and Real met twice in the UCL finals. The first contest was in 1981 when Liverpool beat the team from Madrid, 1-0. The second was in 2017, and that was when Los Blancos got even for the previous defeat, triumphing, 3-1.
Prediction
Both sides will be cautious, but even so, we think that this event should see a lot of goals. The respective defenses have problems maintaining consistency away from home, and we’ve seen them allowing goals frequently. Meanwhile, the attacking potential on both ends of the field is superb, and that’s why we predict three or more goals in this clash.
Pick: Over 2.5 goals at BetXchange
