Champions League Final Preview : Reds Bid for Glory

Last Updated : 13th May, 2018 By Steve A

VENUE

Olympic National Sports Complex, Kiev, Ukraine

TIME

Saturday 26 May 7.45pm

BROADCAST

Live on BT Sport

See Stats

Liverpool were last crowned champions of Europe in 2005 but have the chance to regain that crown in Kiev. This preview looks ahead to the Champions League final as they bid to stop Real Madrid winning the competition for the third year in a row.

Hat-Trick on the Cards for Real

Real Madrid may not have won the Spanish league this season but they go to Kiev bidding to win the Champions League title for the third season in a row. If they can get the better of Liverpool then it'll be the 13th time they have been crowned European champions and that's even with going 11 years this century without winning the trophy.

They haven't had it all their way though in the Champions League this season. Real failed to beat Tottenham in the group stages and then nearly blew a lead in the quarter finals against Juventus. Several times Zinidene Zadane has come close to being fired but form has picked up in the second part of the season. They have earned away wins at PSG, Juventus and Bayern Munich in the knock-out stages this season and few teams can boast such form.

A lot will depend on Cristiano Ronaldo of course and he should be fit for this game after a recent injury. He's already scored 15 goals in the Champions League this season, five more than Salah. Real have won their last six finals and have only two defeats in their last 20 away games and that includes last weeks loss at Sevilla when they played a weakened side. History is just around the corner for Real as they bid to continue being World and European Champions.

Current odds for Cristiano Ronaldo to score the first goal are 3/1 with Betbright (18+ Ts & Cs Apply)

Liverpool Chasing Cup Glory

Earlier in the season, Liverpool fans if they were being honest be that confident of winning Europe's top club competition. That's because even the most confident biased Liverpool fan would tell you their defence just wasn't good enough. That was being proved week after week as they conceded 15 goals in their first five away Premier League games. Their defensive problems continued in the Champions League with no one being able to forget sacrificing a 3-0 lead at Sevilla and hanging on for a 3-3 draw. The feeling was that sooner or later, one of Europe's top teams would have a field day against their defence and that would be that. That was illustrated in the crazy semi-final against Roma winning 7-6 but losing the away leg 4-2.

Virgil Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold will need to be on top form to give Liverpool any chance of surviving against the likes of Ronaldo and Benzema.  Up front of course is where Liverpool are the strongest with  Mané, Salah and Firmino scoring a staggering 90 goals between them this season and 29 in this comptition. They have been scoring goals left,right and centre away from home in the Champions League but this is the ultimate test for Klopp's team and they take on a side who are used to winning big tournaments. At least their top four finish in England's top flight has taken off some of the pressure of having to win this to qualify for next year's Champions League but they still face a massive battle to lift this title.

You can get odds of 21/10 on Liverpool to beat Real Madrid with Unibet (18+ Ts & Cs Apply)

Freebets.org.uk Prediction

This should be one heck of a game and this won't be one of those tense boring low-scoring cup finals. Liverpool have done amazingly well to get this far but the worries about their defence continue. If Roma and Sevilla can score seven between them against the Reds, surely Real Madrid's attack can cause serious damage. This preview believes it'll be Real Madrid who win the Champions League in a game in which both teams score.

Get odds of 12/5 on Real Madrid to beat Liverpool and both teams to score with William Hill (18+ Ts & Cs Apply)