IT’S the big one, the 2022 UEFA Champions League final — Liverpool and Real Madrid will face off in Paris tomorrow, Saturday, May 28 for the second time in five years.

Event # 1 – UEFA CHL, Liverpool vs Real Madrid

Liverpool are enjoying a remarkable season despite narrowly missing out on an unprecedented quadruple on Sunday. Perennial Premier League rivals Manchester City aside, Liverpool have consistently been top of the class for every assignment sent their way so far this season. Real Madrid, on the other hand, may have been crowned Spanish champions but their European campaign defies both belief and description after a series of stellar comebacks so far this season. Their journey to this point could fill a novel, and the final chapter is yet to be written.

Real Madrid emerged victorious when both sides met back in the 2018 final, with Gareth Bale scoring a double for the Spanish side in a 3-1 win. Real Madrid secured a 3-1 aggregate win over Liverpool in the quarter-finals last season but they enter this final as the underdogs, which is perhaps unsurprising given Liverpool’s form over the last few months. Liverpool may have fallen short in their quadruple bid despite beating Wolves 3-1 in their final league match at the weekend but they still have the chance to secure a treble and they go into the Champions League final unbeaten in their last 18 games — winning 15 of those.

Player for player it’s hard to argue against Liverpool being the better team in this match-up but Real Madrid simply don’t know when they are beaten — the La Liga Champions have been behind at some stage but fought back to win in all of the previous knockout rounds, and they are indebted to Karim Benzema’s stunning campaign thus far with the striker scoring 15 goals from his 11 matches so far this season. With that said, Liverpool will enter this contest with revenge on their minds, particularly one Mohamed Salah whose participation in the 2018 final ended far too early for his liking. In the 25th minute of the match he and Sergio Ramos tussled for the ball and both fell to the ground, with Salah’s arm locked beneath Ramos’s grip and ending with Salah suffering a dislocated shoulder injury. Liverpool and Salah never forgave, and never forgot, as moments after helping Liverpool reach the 2022 final Salah was asked by BT Sports which team, between Manchester City and Real Madrid, he would rather face in this year’s final and there were no cliches in his response — “If you ask me personally, I would prefer Madrid because we lost the 2018 final to them.”

KEY STATS

• Liverpool – are looking to win the European Cup/UEFA Champions League for the seventh time in their history. A victory in Paris would take them level with AC Milan (7) and leave them only behind opponents Real Madrid (13) for the most overall victories across the two competitions.

• Real Madrid – are aiming to win the European Cup/UEFA Champions League for the 14th time, which would then be twice as many as any other team (7, AC Milan). Real Madrid have lifted the trophy on each of the last seven occasions when they have appeared in the final, with their last defeat in the showpiece coming against Liverpool back in 1981 — a game that was also played in Paris thanks to an Alan Kennedy winner.

• Both sides – Liverpool and Real Madrid, will meet for the third time in the final of the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, the most between two clubs across the history of the two competitions. Liverpool won the first final back in 1981 (1-0), before Real Madrid beat Jürgen Klopp’s side 3-1 in 2018.

The betting tip: Both teams to score.

JUSTBET ODDS – Liverpool vs Real Madrid

Saturday, May 28, 2022

Prediction Odds on Prediction Odds Calculation

LIVERPOOL TO WIN $2.15 which means a $1000 bet would pay $2,150

REAL MADRID TO WIN $3.60 which means a $1000 bet would pay $3,600

MATCH TO DRAW $3.60 which means a $1000 bet would pay $3,600

Odds on the home team (L/Pool) winning the game 3-1 at full time $16.00 which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $16,000

Odds on the away team (Madrid) winning the game 2-3 at full time $36.00 which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $36,000

Odds on the game drawing 2-2 at full time $13.00 which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $13,000.