Liverpool FC Forum

Liverpool play Real Madrid Club de Fútbol in the CL final for the third time.  The venue is Saint-Denis's Stade de France on Saturday 28 May, kicking off at 21:00 CET. Built to stage games at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, it was the venue for the 2000 and 2006 UEFA Champions League finals, as well as the UEFA EURO 2016 showpiece. It's normal seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the seventh-largest stadium in Europe, reduced to 75,000 for the CL final to make space for more prawn sandwiches. LFC and RM were allocated 19,618 tickets each for the final in Paris or 52.3% of the Stade de France capacity. Another 12,000 tickets will be allocated via a public ballot and the remaining 23,764 given to the Uefa “family” and corporate sponsors. Tickets are being offered on resale sites for between £3,275 for one ballot ticket to £15,499 for a hospitality seat in a private suite,
RM was founded in 1920, against Liverpool founded in 1892. The club was estimated to be worth $4.2 billion in 2021 (Deloittes) against LFC at $4.1 billion which is more a reflection of how Liverpool has grown over the last few years rather than Real's value. 

In 2021 Real Madrid reported a net debt of £39.2 million (€46.4 million) compared to £203.2 million (€240.6 million) in 2020 that’s quite the turnaround. The 2020/2021 fiscal summary excludes the £700 million loan to fund the renovations at the Santiago Bernabeu. All assets considered, Real Madrid claimed a positive financial outlook of £738,394 (874,000 Euros). In comparison to Barcelona, according to La Liga, Real Madrid’s spending limit is eight times that of Barcelona.

LFC have the fifth biggest Premier League debt in 2022 at $208 million with a full $48 million coming from losses incurred during the pandemic. In comparison, Spurs have debts of $838 million due to their new stadium and Chelsea $1.8 billion which puts LFC's debt into perspective.

Route to the final:
Liverpool UEFA ranking: 2.  European Cup wins:
1976/77, 1977/78, 1980/81, 1983/84, 2004/05, 2018/19
Last season: quarter-finals (L 1-3 agg vs Real Madrid)
Last final: 2018/19 (W 2-0 vs Tottenham)

Liverpool's Champions League Campaign 2021/22
Record: W10 D1 L1 F30 A13
Top scorer: Mohamed Salah (8)
Semi-finals: 5-2 agg vs Villarreal
Quarter-finals: 6-4 agg vs Benfica
Round of 16: 2-1 agg vs Inter
Group B: winners

Real Madrid UEFA ranking: 5.  European Cup wins:
1955/56, 1956/57, 1957/58, 1958/59, 1959/60, 1965/66, 1997/98, 1999/2000, 2001/02, 20013/14,2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18
Last season: semi-finals (L 1-3 agg vs Chelsea)
Last final: 2017/18 (W 3-1 vs Liverpool)

Real Madrid's Champions League Campaign 2021/22
Record: W8 D0 L4 F28 A14
Top scorer: Karim Benzema (15)
Semi-finals: 6-5 agg vs Man. City
Quarter-finals: 5-4 agg vs Chelsea
Round of 16: 3-2 agg vs Paris
Group D: winners

Manager: The wily old fox Carlo Ancelotti, one of just three coaches to have won the European Cup/Champions League three times, and will be the first to manage in five finals. RM have won their last seven finals and hold the record of 13 titles.
Real Madrid's key player is Karim Benzema who scored Madrid's 1,000th European Cup goal against Shakhtar earlier this campaign then turned around their last-16 tie with Paris with a second-half hat-trick before striking the decisive blow in extra time against the Citeh to make it four goals in the tie. 

Liverpool have won the CL six times, same as Bayern with Milan and Real Madrid the only clubs to have won more.
LFC key players, Sadio, Mo, Diaz - the whole team. LFC are capable from scoring from all positions whether forward, midfield or defender. 
LFC beat RM in the 1981 European Cup Final on 27 May 1981 at the Parc des Princes, Paris. One day earlier in Paris. Must be an omen!
RM beat LFC in a tainted game in Kiev in 2018 when Ramos deliberately fouled Mo Salah, breaking his shoulder. In reality, LFC weren't ready for such a big game and the team were out played and Karius the GK played a mare, never playing for the club again. Unbelievably, Karius's contract expired just 5 days ago. 

A massive deciding factor will be just how tired LFC will be in the final. RM have rested a full month prior to this game whereas LFC have played 8 games in the last 30 days. Realistically as could be seen against Wolves, our lads are exhausted. Fabinio is due to train towards the end of the week but it looks like Thiago is out. VVD should be rested but Mo's down turn in form, Bobby's rustiness and Jota and Diaz being blunt against Wolves raises concerns. Fortunately we have the mighty Alisson in goal and a fast improving Konate to partner VVD.

Liverpool have the players to win the game, we have the desire and we have the fans to raise the occasion.Real Madrid have the experience and the aura. The managers are matched, both are great leaders and neither one will have an obvious advantage over the other.
Liverpool have won the domestic cup double but will feel disappointed if we don't win the CL.In 2019 the same happened, we lost the league to City by a point but won the CL.LFC play in Red and when they have won the CL have always beaten a team in white. The omens are there...

Come on Redmen, let's do this !!!!!!!!!      

When we got Real for the final instead of City, I actually kinda fancied us and thought we were favorites to win it. But looking at the toll that these last few games have taken on us, with key players injured and everybody else being at their physical limit, I'm not so confident now. If both Fabinho and Thiago are out then we're in for a game for sure.

I hope this season doesn't fall flat at the final hurdle. I said I was happy with the 2 cups, but the thought of winning one of the big 2 just brings so much excitement. I was devastated the way the PL ended at the weekend, giving us hope and then city making the comeback.

If we win Saturday no one can deny we've been the best team in Europe by a country mile.

Really looking forward to this one and hoping to put away the disappointment of epl. Real are UCL royalty and can't be underestimated. They were quite poor against City but still managed to get through.

We need Fab in this one, hoping he gets fit in time. Thiago will be a huge miss, I can't see him featuring.

Salah wants revenge so it is time for him to kick in gear, scoring wise he hasn't been at it since afcon.

We've won 2 domestic cups, made City work hard and battled it out until the final whistle.
Winning the UCL will seal an incredible season. This team and Klopp deserve major honours. Pep is 4-1 on league titles, we could be 2-0 on European titles.

Jurgen Klopp said Thiago Alcantara has a good chance of making the Champions League final. He will train this afternoon. Klopp: "It is surprisingly good."

That's what Rafa said about Harry Kewell in 2005.

Reg » Thu May 26, 2022 5:12 pm wrote:That's what Rafa said about Harry Kewell in 2005.

2005 didn't turn out too bad though Reg.

Boocity » Fri May 27, 2022 6:32 am wrote:

Reg » Thu May 26, 2022 5:12 pm wrote:That's what Rafa said about Harry Kewell in 2005.

2005 didn't turn out too bad though Reg.

Can't disagree with you there!    

I think we need to prepare ourselves for “gamesmanship”, rolling around holding their faces, time wasting, surrounding the ref etc. Thankfully we have a world class team that are confident and experienced… “the mentality monsters” and should be able to deal with it. I was certain we would beat Spurs but obviously much more wary of Real. We are a different animal to the team that lost to them last time and they are not as strong but they still have a great coach and fantastic players so anything can happen. I would bet that if Thiago is playing they will try to give him a whack, I’d bet it would be Casimero as Brazilians seem to be ready to go in hard on him probably because he chose Spain over Brazil.

I just hope we see the best Liverpool side as in which case we would win easily. This could be the last time we see Salah, Mane and Firmino playing together as surely one if not two will be gone next season. Diaz and to an extent Jota will be fired up as did they think they would be playing a CL final against Real Madrid with the world watching? at least so soon. A battle to watch would be  Vinicius Jr against Trent, the Brazilian is tricky and quick which could give Trent trouble.

I don’t see why we cannot beat this lot 3-0 if the team we know show up and it is time to use up that tank one last time this season, they do that and they will cement their legacy. This is a world class team that need to be remembered in History, if they win today that will happen. The stage could not be any more set!

COYR


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I agree mate confident that we will win as compared to 2018. However, like you said I also don't trust them. They will have some tactics to try and destabilise us. We will get chances and it is crucial we take them. I'm hoping for a less nervy final, I really don't want ET and penos. Midfield is going to be key, we definitely need Fab to start, if his ready. I think Thiago maybe on the bench.

I wonder if Klopp will start with Diaz or bring him on as our second half weapon.

Imo I think Mane will stay, saying you will hear "special news" next week that will be good for all is just telling me of a contract extension.

Fecking nerves are shot already and still 8 hours to go 

C'mon the pool  

The bookies are offering some incredibly mean prices for Liverpool and have them as outright favourites. I certainly think that will have a lot to do with Thiago and Fab. We are a different animal when they are both controlling the midfield with Hendo bossing proceedings. We have a phenomenal front three and an amazing back four and not forgetting Ali because without him we wouldn’t have even been in the CL. In terms of strength in depth I think we have the edge. I agree with Kazza that if we play to our best we can win this. Concentration is vital. JK will have them wound up like a thoroughbred waiting to bounce out of the stalls in a 5 furlong sprint !! The fans will do their bit and Paint Paris red.

COYR

YNWA

I don't really like how there's a lot of talk of us trashing them. Real are not to be underestimated, they've played in a total of 14 CL finals and have lost only one (thankfully against us though). Plus, we've always been better as the underdog, so I'm not really a fan of all the hype and talk that we're huge favourites.

CONFIRMED LINEUP

Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago, Diaz, Salah, Mane.

Subs: Kelleher, Milner, Keita, Firmino, Gomez, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Minamino, Jota, Tsimikas, Matip, Elliott.

We have our strongest XI starting - only argument would be Matip instead of Konate- we need pace against Vinicius so I reckon that's why Konate got the nod.

Let's bring home number 7 !!!!!              

Thiago doesn't look 100%, can only hope he doesn't try to put personal ambition before that of the team. If he's not 100% right he should stand down.