Dinner is served! Two European heavyweights are in the final of the Champions League in Paris. Liverpool FC meets Real Madrid. Which of the two traditional clubs will secure the handle pot is still in the stars. The game in the live ticker.
Liverpool: Alisson – Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson – Fabinho – Henderson, Thiago – Salah, Mané, Luis Diaz
Real Madrid: Courtois – Carvajal, Eder Militao, Alaba, Mendy – Casemiro, Kroos – Valverde, Modric – Benzema, Vinicius Jr.
FC Liverpool – Real Madrid
05/28/2022 | 9:00 p.m
In order to reach the final of the Champions League, the teams have a long and rocky road ahead of them. The example of the two finalists shows how complicated this can be.
Los Blancos are having a crazy European season and deserve to be rewarded. In the group stage, the Madrilenians faced Inter Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk and Sheriff Tiraspol. Madrid was able to get 15 out of a possible 18 points, but it looked as if they would have serious problems as early as the second matchday.
Because Tiraspol, the little football dwarf, managed to shake the big giant. Sheriff won 2-1 in Madrid and caused a tremor in European football. However, this did not last long. Real won the return match 3-0. Arrived as the group first in the knockout round, the first really big chunk was waiting there.
In the round of 16 they faced Paris Saint-Germain. The Paris star ensemble won the first leg in the Prinzenpark 1-0. But Karim Benzema turned things around in the second leg in Madrid and netted three times. The game ended 3-1 and they were in the quarter-finals, where none other than the defending champions, Chelsea FC, were waiting.
It got a lot more exciting against Thomas Tuchel’s men. This time Benzema scored a hat-trick in the first leg but the return was not for the faint of heart. Chelsea were 3-0 up until the 80th minute and would be through before Rodrygo Real fired into extra time where Benzema was there again to make it 3-2. Crazy seven goals in the knockout stages for the French – up to here.
In the semifinals things got really tough. There you had to play against Manchester City, who were big favorites. Two amazing semi-finals followed with a total of eleven goals. City overwhelmed Madrid early in the first leg and quickly led 2-0, but were squandering their chances. Madrid, on the other hand, was freezing and after 90 minutes it was 4:3 for the “Citizens”. The second leg was eagerly awaited. It should be fireworks.
And so it happened. City led 1-0 up to the 90th minute and were thus in the final, but then Rodrygo’s hour struck. A double strike within 2 minutes secured Real extra time where Benzema again made the difference. In the 95th minute he sealed City’s end and Real’s entry into the final. Benzema scored 15 goals, ten of them in the knockout phase. Awesome!
In contrast to Real Madrid, Liverpool FC had it a little easier with coach Jürgen Klopp. Despite a hammer group with Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and FC Porto, they were able to get into the knockout phase with six wins from six games.
Inter Milan then waited in the round of 16. Away you could win 2-0 with two late goals and so even a 0-1 defeat at home at Anfield was enough. The quarter-finals then had to be played against Benfica Lisbon. Goals from Ibrahima Konate, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz won the first leg 3-1. The second leg would be a bit more turbulent towards the end. In the end it was 3:3. A 10-goal duel.
Two easier opponents, especially compared to Real Madrid, were followed by an absolute underdog in the semifinals. Although Villarreal threw FC Bayern out of the race, Liverpool were a size too big. They won the first leg 2-0 before things went crazy again in the second leg. In the first half, Villarreal equalized the first-leg result before collapsing and conceding three goals in just under ten minutes.
So Liverpool appeared more confident overall, but also didn’t have any heavyweights to defeat.
FC Liverpool – Real Madrid
05/28/2022 | 9:00 p.m
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