Champions League Final

We’re now at the sharp end of this season’s Champions League Final and Real Madrid will fight it out with Liverpool at the Stade de France on May 28th for the honour of being named ‘Champions of Europe’.

The premier club competition in Europe has now been whittled down to just two teams, Liverpool and Real Madrid set to battle it out for the honour of becoming champions of Europe. These two clubs are true European heavyweights having won this competition nineteen times between them (Liverpool with six trophies and Real Madrid with thirteen) and given their huge global popularity, we envisage this being the most widely watched Champions League Final in the history of the competition.

Road to the 2022 Champions League Final

Liverpool

The Reds were completely dominant in the group stages of the tournament and finished in pole position in Group B with a maximum points haul from their six group outings and a healthy goal difference of +11. Jurgen Klopp’s men brushed aside the likes of Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and FC Porto en-route to the last-sixteen stage for the fifth time in succession.

In the opening knockout round, the Reds beat Spanish giants Atletico Madrid to the tune of 2-1 on aggregate and their reward for this was a quarter-final meeting with Benfica, who they duly dispatched 3-1 in the first leg before sharing the spoils in the second leg.

Next in Liverpool’s sights were Villarreal and the Reds enjoyed a routine 2-0 win in the first leg at Anfield  before completing their task with a hard-fought 3-2 victory on Spanish soil. Liverpool are now through to their third Champions League Final in five years and they head into this crunch match as firm favourites.

Real Madrid

Real Madrid finished their Group D campaign in pole position with a full five points separating them from runners-up Inter Milan. They won all-but-one of their five group outings, the only upset coming from a surprise 2-1 defeat at the hands of group minnows Sheriff at the Bernabeu. This will have left something of a bitter taste in the mouths of Los Blancos but it has proven to be completely insignificant as far as their progress in the competition has been concerned.

In the last-sixteen of the tournament, Real lost to a last-gasp goal from PSG’s Kylian Mbappe in the first leg and he doubled the French side’s advantage in the second leg but far from their European campaign fizzling out, Real fought back with Karim Benzema scoring a hat-trick and sending his side through to a quarter-final meeting with Premier League side Chelsea.

Benzema scored another hat-trick in the 3-1 win against Thomas Tuchel’s men at Stamford Bridge and while Chelsea won by the same scoreline after 90 minutes in the return leg, Benzema once again came to the fore by banging-in the winner in extra-time to make the scoreline 5-4 to Real on aggregate.

More drama was to come in the semi-final against Manchester City. Pep Guardiola’s side dominated the first leg and the 4-3 win could have been far more heavier, however these squandered chances came back to haunt City in the second leg as they surrendered a 1-0 lead going into stoppage time when Real unbelievably pulled themselves level on aggregate before Benzema scored from the spot in extra-time to take his side into their 14th Champions League Final.

2022 Champions League Final Preview

Liverpool

Could this Champions League Final be a history defining moment for Liverpool? Jurgen Klopp’s men have already taken the League Cup and the FA Cup this season, while they sit just a single point behind Manchester City in the Premier League table with just a single game left to play. As such, the Reds remain very much on course for an unprecedented treble although their title-defining final game of the Premier League campaign will be a make-or-break affair and this could either build or crush the Red’s confidence ahead of the Champions League Final.

Liverpool have been firing on all cylinders across all fronts this term and Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Mohamed Salah and Virgil Van Dijk will be back for this match after having been absent in the Premier League meeting with Southampton.

Real Madrid

Real Madrid have been the standout side in the 2021/22 La Liga campaign and they currently sit twelve points clear of arch-rivals Barcelona with just one league game left to play. With a 35th league title under their belts, Real will now be focusing purely on this showdown with Liverpool on 28th May and given their showing in the competition thus far, it would be very unwise to write them off here. Prior to the start of the campaign, many expected Real’s ageing players such as Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema to run out of steam as we approached the latter stages, however nothing could have been further from the truth, the latter being the top scorer in this season’s competition.

Having lost just three of their thirteen Champions League finals, the record-holding European champions will doubtless give Liverpool a run for their money in this one and we envisage a thrilling encounter between these two European heavyweights.

Best Betting Odds

Liverpool head into the 2022 Champions League Final as heavy favourites and understandably so, many bookies going 21/20 on Jurgen Klopp’s men. Real Madrid are a general 12/5 to take the European crown for the 14th time while a draw in 90 minutes is priced at 27/10, check out betsites.com for more betting sites and odds.

90 Minutes

21/20 – Liverpool

12/5 –  Real Madrid

27/10 – Draw

Liverpool are also favourites to win the trophy, whether in normal time or via extra time or a penalty shoot-out. Liverpool are a general 4/7 in this market while Real Madrid are 6/4.

To Lift Trophy

4/7  –  Liverpool

6/4  –  Real Madrid

Under/Over 2.5 Goals

Liverpool have been having few problems finding the back of the net this season both in European and domestic competition and Real Madrid have similarly been scoring for fun with the help of tournament top-scorer Karim Benzema, therefore we envisage plenty of goal-mouth action in this one.

8/11 –  Over 2.5

11/10 – Under 2.5

Over/Under 3.5 Goals

The previous two Champions League Finals have each been decided by just a single goal but there’s no evidence to suggest that this will be the case in the 2022 renewal.

2/5  –  Under 3.5

15/8 –  Over 3.5

Correct Score

Liverpool battled out a five-goal thriller in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final while Real Madrid banged-in six across the two legs of their semi-final against Manchester City, therefore we envisage a high-scoring encounter this time around.

11/2 –  Draw 1-1

15/2 –  Liverpool 2-1

8/1  –  Liverpool 1-0

10/1 –  Liverpool 2-0

10/1 –  Real Madrid 2-1

21/2 –  Draw 0-0

12/1 –  Draw 2-2

13/1 –  Liverpool 3-1

First Goalscorer

Both teams will have a wealth of attacking talent on display here and the goals could arrive from many different directions, however Mohamed Salah and Karim Benzema will be the ones to watch in this one, both players having enjoyed excellent seasons for their respective clubs.

22/5 –  Mohamed Salah

19/4 –  Karim Benzema

27/5 –  Diogo Jota

23/4 –  Sadio Mane

13/2 –  Divock Origi

13/2 –  Roberto Firmino

7/1  –  Luis Diaz

15/2 –  Takumi Minamino

17/2 –  Luka Jovic

9/1  –  Vinicius Junior

10/1 –  Marco Asensio

10/1 –  Gareth Bale

Our Prediction

Liverpool will be aiming to finish what has been an exceptional 2021/22 campaign on a high. They have already secured silverware in the form of the League Cup and the FA Cup and should they pip Manchester City at the post and win the Premier League title, they will be very much on course to achieve an unprecedented treble here.

Karim Benzema and co will be looking to throw a massive spanner in the works however and it would take a brave or foolhardy man to bet against them doing just that. Real Madrid are a side who shine on the biggest of stages with defeats in just three of their thirteen previous Champions league finals, therefore we’ll be siding with them to take home the trophy on 28th May 2022.