Can Liverpool prevent Real Madrid from securing a 3rd consecutive Champions League this Saturday, at 7.45pm on BT Sport 2?

Following fairly disappointing domestic seasons for both sides – Liverpool finished in 4th and Real Madrid in 3rd, 25 and 17 points adrift of Man City and Barcelona respectively – this weekend provides an opportunity to erase all that with the most coveted title in club football: the Champions League.



For Real this is very much par for the course. Saturday’s trip to Kiev is their third final in 3 seasons – actually 4th in 5 – something that hasn’t happened since Juventus managed it between 1996 and 1998. However, Juve were only victorious once in that period – Real Madrid are looking to secure a hat-trick of consecutive titles, an unheard of achievement in the Champions League era and a feat that was last pulled off by Bayern Munich in the old European Cup in the mid-70s.

Yet 2017/18 hasn’t seen Real at their best in the competition. Though Cristiano Ronaldo has bagged a bonkers 15 goals in 12 games, leaving him 2 away from equalling the record he set in 2013/14, the club’s progress has been far from certain. They had to settle for 2nd in Group H after losing to Tottenham at Wembley; and while they breezed past former favourites PSG, they very nearly messed up a 1st leg lead against both Juventus and Bayern Munich. Granted, that’s a hellacious set of teams to face in one run, suggesting that Champions League success is truly in Real’s DNA.

As for Liverpool, they were actually unbeaten in the competition until their semi-final 2nd leg against Roma at the start of the month, a 5-2 defeat that imperilled what had seemed to be an unassailable 5-2 lead from the home fixture. Before that they’d comprehensively trounced Man City and Porto, and slogged through a tricky-ish group stage with Sevilla, Spartak Moscow and Maribor.

While Ronaldo has scored exactly half of Real’s 30 Champions League goals, Liverpool’s 40 goals have been a bit more evenly spread. Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino are both on 10, with Sadio Mane on 9; and in James Milner they have the player with the most assists, his 9 trailed by Firmino’s 8.

Give the firepower on off, and the fragilities at the back, it should come as no surprise that Spreadex are offering a Total Goals spread of 3.3-3.5. As for the winner, Zinedine Zidane’s record gives the defending champs the edge, at a Real Madrid/Liverpool Goal Supremacy spread of 0.2-0.4.