Final Preview: Some interesting facts about Real Madrid and Liverpool as the European heavyweights gear up for Paris 2022

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Real Madrid and Liverpool clash in yet another Champions League final for only the third time in the history of the club.


The two are arguably the biggest names in the competition with Spanish giants, Real winning the title a 13 record times while Liverpool’s six titles is only bettered by their opponent and AC Milan.

However, in recent times, it is this two that has stand out among peers, with Los Blancos reaching a fifth final in eight years while Liverpool for the third time in five years.

Ahead of the final tonight in Paris, we take a look at some interesting facts involving the two clubs.

• English teams have suffered a defeat in their last eight UEFA club competition finals excluding Super Cup, against Spanish opposition (four times in the Champions League finals and four more times in the UEFA Cup/Europa League finals.

• The two clubs are meeting for the ninth time in the competition. The previous eight meetings has seen Liverpool won three and drew one, with Real Madrid emerging victorious on four occasions.

• Liverpool had won the first ever three meetings between the clubs before Real Madrid won four of the last five, including in the final of the 2018 edition in Kyiv.

• Madrid's win in Kyiv was the eleventh UEFA Champions League win for a Spanish side – five more than the next highest-ranked nation, England, and six more than Italy. Germany (four) is the only other country to have recorded multiple victories.

• Last time Real Madrid lost a Champions League/ European Cup final was the first time ever they came up against Liverpool, losing 1-0 in 1981 in Paris, where this year's final will also be played.

• Real Madrid have never lost a final on the UEFA Champions League era. This is their eighth appearance in the fixture – a new record, surpassing the seven set by Italian clubs, AC Milan and Juventus.

• Madrid's Italian manager, Carlo Ancelotti is the first coach to lead a team in five UEFA Champions League finals and is seeking a record-breaking fourth European Cup victory. He shares the landmark of three with former Madrid boss Zinédine Zidane and Liverpool's Bob Paisley. A victory would also make Ancelotti the first coach to win the UEFA Champions League twice with more than one club.

• The 62-year-old also shares a history with Liverpool while with Milan, losing to The Reds in the 2005 final in Istanbul before getting his revenge two years later, in the final played at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.


About Players


• Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale, who found the net against Atlético Madrid in 2014 and Liverpool four years later, could join Cristiano Ronaldo in scoring in three finals. Marcelo (2014), Marco Asensio and Casemiro (both 2017) and Karim Benzema (2018) will be looking to join the list of players to have scored in two finals.

• For Liverpool, 2019 final scorers, Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi could join the list of seven players who have found the net in two UEFA Champions League finals, as could Mané after his goal against Madrid in 2018.

• Gareth Bale, Samuel Eto'o, Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Raúl González, Mario Mandžukić and Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the only player to find the net in three, have all struck in multiple finals.

• Luka Modrić, Benzema, Dani Carvajal, Marcelo, Bale and Isco could all appear in their fifth UEFA Champions League final victory for Madrid.

• In addition to those six, Toni Kroos and Casemiro both featured in 2016, 2017 and 2018 while Asensio came on as a substitute in 2017 and 2018, as did Lucas Vázquez in 2016 and Nacho in 2018.

• Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson, James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané all started as Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool lost to Madrid in the 2018 final.

• Twelve months later Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Robertson, Henderson, Salah, Firmino and Mané, plus Alisson, Joël Matip, Fabinho and substitutes Milner, Joe Gomez and Divock Origi all featured in Liverpool's win against Tottenham.

• Karim Benzema, 44 goals and 15 assists, and Vinicius Junior, 21 goals and 20 assists have registered 100 goal contributions between them for Real Madrid across all competitions this season.

• Mohamed Salah, 31 goals and 16 assists, and Sadio Mané, 23 goals and five assists, have registered 75 goal contributions between them across all competitions for Liverpool this campaign.

• Playing in the La Liga and Champions League this season, Thibaut Courtois has 20 clean sheets, of which four has come in the Champions League.

• Alisson Becker has kept 27 clean sheets for Liverpool across all competitions this season, including 20 in the Premier league, which made him record the joint most alongside his countryman, Ederson Moraes of Manchester City. Alisson also has four in the Champions League.

• Having kept a clean sheet in the 2019 final against Tottenham Hotspur, Alisson Becker could become the first goalkeeper to keep multiple clean sheets in the final of the UEFA Champions League era.

• Karim Benzema is just one goal away from surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo's record of most goals scored in the knockout rounds of a single campaign. Scoring against Liverpool will take his tally to 11.


• Vinícius Junior has attempted more take-ons than any other player in league and European competition this season (277). 10 is the record most takeons completed in a Champions League final since data has been collected in 2004. Set by Ronaldinho vs Arsenal and Lionel Messi vs Manchester United and Juventus.


Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi

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