Real Madrid vs. Liverpool: A Historic Rivalry
On Saturday, May 28, Real Madrid and Liverpool will face each other in a match that will be the third time they meet in the UEFA Champions League final. This head-to-head record is evenly matched and the parity will be broken at Stade de France, since the first match was in 1981 and it was won by the reds in, curiously, Paris. The other match was in 2018, when the whites won 3-1.
However, this clash is not surprising at all if you consider the history and present of both clubs. The merengues come from winning LaLiga and the Spanish Super Cup, while the reds finished second in the Premier League and have won the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup.
Liverpool vs. Real Madrid: the reds will seek revenge for what happened in 2018. Photo EFE.
It is also not surprising that English and Spanish teams reach this stage, since in this century, almost all the finals have had them as protagonists, with the exception of five cases:
- 2002-2003: AC Milan vs. Juventus
- 2003-2004: Porto vs. Monaco
- 2009-2010: Inter Milan vs. Bayern Munich
- 2013-2014: Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund.
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In addition, on five occasions, the final was between two teams from those leagues:
- 2007-2008: Manchester United vs. Chelsea
- 2013-2014/2015-2016: Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid
- 2018-2019: Liverpool vs. Tottenham
- 2020-2021: Chelsea vs. Manchester City.
Although teams from Serie A, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 have participated and are tough opponents, they do not have the same dominance as LaLiga and the Premier League in recent years, where big figures like Karim Benzema, Mohamed Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez reside. They will be joined by Erling Haaland at City and possibly Robert Lewandowski in the Spanish league.