Battle For European Glory

Liverpool will face Real Madrid in the final of the UEFA Champions League at the Stade de France on May 28. Bol News is bringing you a detailed preview of the teams’ journey in Europe’s elite competition.

Liverpool

Liverpool have had an immaculate run since the start of 2022 and it would not be wrong to claim that they are probably the most in-form team in the continent.

In the ongoing season of the Champions League, the Reds have been in red-hot form on their way to the finals.

They started their campaign with a 3-2 win over AC Milan in an exciting encounter. The Merseyside club’s first goal came through an own goal from Fikayo Tomori in the ninth minute.

Milan’s response came in quick succession in the 42nd and 44th-minute when Ante Rebić and Brahim Díaz scored for the visitors.

However, Liverpool had the last laugh after the final whistle was blown as Mohamed Salah and Jordan Henderson scored goals and secured a win.

The English club then continued on their merry way and remained unbeaten until the second-leg of the round of 16 where they hosted Italian club Inter Milan where they finally suffered a defeat, courtesy of a brilliant goal from Lautaro Martínez but it was too little too late for the Serie A giants as that victory went in vain with the Reds proceeding further on an aggregate score of 2-1.

The quarter-finals were a rather walk-in-the-park for the Premier League giants as they convincingly defeated Benfica in the first leg by 3-1.

The second leg wasn’t much complicated either as, despite Benfica drawing the match 3-3, Liverpool progressed to the semi-finals with the overall aggregate score of 6-4.

In the semis, Liverpool once again looked too strong for a decent Villareal side where they defeated the Spanish club with the overall aggregate score of 5-2.

Player to watch out for

There will be several players to watch out for in both the sides when they go head-to-head in the Champions League final but for Liverpool, Mohamed Salah will be a key player.

The 29-year-old holds the record for the most goals (34) in the Champions League history for the Reds.

Remembering his club’s defeat against the Spanish giants in 2018 final, the Egypt international Tweeted “We have a score to settle.”

This indicated that the former AS Roma striker and his side are looking to come hard at their rivals in the all-important clash.

Salah has eight goals to his name in 12 matches in the Champions League 2022 shows why he will be pivotal to the team’s cause on Saturday.

The Liverpool forward has also recently bagged his second England Men’s footballer of the year award. In February 2022, he also became only the tenth player to achieve the feat of scoring 150 goals for Liverpool.

Salah also became the first Premier League player to score five goals against Manchester United in a single season on April 19, 2022.

The game might well turn out to be the final game of the former Chelsea player for Liverpool who has been heavily linked with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) who are keen on signing the winger to replace Kylian Mbappe.

Historical achievements

Liverpool are the most successful English club in Europe’s elite club competition, having won the title six times, three more than second-placed Manchester United.

In terms of record, the Reds are placed in the third position behind only Real Madrid (13) and AC Milan (7). Therefore, a win on Saturday will make them the joint second-most successful club in the history of the Champions League.

Liverpool’s last success in the Champions League came in the 2018-19 campaign when they defeated fellow Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in the final with a score of 2-0.

This will be Liverpool’s 10th appearance in the final of the competition and their third against Los Blancos.

Real Madrid

Real Madrid will enter the contest on Saturday as a slight underdog, despite making some remarkable comebacks in the Champions League this season.

Los Blancos became the first side in the history of the competition to secure their place in the final of the Champions League by overcoming the first-leg deficit on more than one occasion in the knockout stage.

Real started the campaign brightly by beating Inter Milan 1-0 away from home but suffered a surprising 2-1 defeat while playing at the Santiago Bernabéu against Moldovan club FC Sheriff on matchday two.

But from there on, the Madrid-based outfit looked unstoppable as they won the next four games, scoring 12 times in the process and conceding just once.

In the knockout stage, Real were drawn against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and suffered a 1-0 defeat in France. In the return leg, the Whites looked done and dusted after Kylian Mbappe scored an opener, but a 17-minute hat-trick from Karim Benzema turned the game upside down as the reigning French champions were knocked out.

In the quarterfinals, Real dominated Chelsea and second a comprehensive 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge. But the Blues made a grand comeback and were leading 3-0 at the Bernabéu and looked almost certain to make it to the next stage.

However, once again, Real made a grand comeback and with the help of Rodrygo and Benzema’s goal, the Spanish side made it to the last four.

In the semis, they were up against an in-form Manchester City side, who secured a rather comfortable 4-3 win at the Etihad Stadium.

In the return leg, City were leading 1-0 till the 90th minute but a quickfire brace from Rodrygo took the game to the extra time where Benzema once again sealed the win after being awarded a penalty.

In terms of current form, Real have been pretty decent with six wins and a draw in their last 10 matches across competitions.

Player to watch out for

Real Madrid is a team full of superstars and there will be eyes on all of them at the grandest stage of all. But one player who will have special attention will be striker Benzema.

The French forward is comfortably the leading scorer in the competition with 15 goals and he will definitely end the tournament there as well as the second-highest scorer in terms of active players is Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah with eight goals.

Benzema has been in outstanding form in the ongoing season where he played a key role in the team’s trophy-winning campaign in La Liga where he has already netted 27 times, 10 more than second-placed Celta Vigo’s Iago Aspas.

The 34-year-old was also instrumental in Real’s remarkable comebacks in the Champions League against PSG, Chelsea and Manchester City.

The former Lyon striker, who has scored 44 goals and provided 15 assists in just 44 matches across all competitions this season, will be hoping to continue his remarkable run and help the Madrid-based outfit in securing another European title.

Historical achievements

Real Madrid are often termed as the Kings of Europe, largely because of their remarkable record in the Champions League where they are by far the most successful team in the history of the competition.

Los Blancos have won the title 13 times, six more than second-placed AC Milan. Four of those triumphs came in just five seasons from 2014 to 2018 and one of them was against their Saturday’s rival Liverpool.

Feyenoord Rotterdam will face AS Roma in the final of the inaugural edition of the UEFA Conference League at the Arena Kombëtare, Tirana in Romania on May 25.

Feyenoord Rotterdam

Feyenoord will come into the contest against Roma as a slight favourite as they have been extremely impressive in the ongoing campaign.

The Dutch club started their campaign with a 0-0 stalemate against Maccabi Haifa F.C. while playing away from home.

But they went on to win the next three matches, one against Slavia Praha and two against Union Berlin, to strengthen their chances of securing a spot in the next round.

De club van het volk finished the group stage unbeaten with 14 points from six matches.

In the knockout stage, Feyenoord looked simply unstoppable as they thrashed Partizan with an aggregate score of 8-3 and Slavia Praha with an aggregate score of 6-4.

In the semis, the Dutch club had a difficult fixture against the French side Olympique de Marseille where the tie was decided in the first leg where Feyenoord won with the score of 3-2. That was the overall aggregate score as well considering that the second fixture ended in a stalemate.

In terms of recent form, Feyenoord have been doing pretty well of late where they’ve just suffered two defeats in the last 10 outings which included six defeats and two draws.

Player to watch out for

Feyenoord’s Cyriel Dessers will be the player to watch out for the in final for Feyenoord. The 27-year-old has been in exceptional form for the Dutch side in the campaign where he is currently leading the charts with 10 goals to his name.

The Nigeria international is going through an excellent season overall where he has netted 21 times and provided six assists in just 46 matches across all competitions.

With so much at stake in the grand finale on Wednesday, Feyenoord will be hoping that their star forward will produce another magical night and take his team to the ultimate glory.

Historical achievements

Feyenoord’s history in Europe is a very impressive one considering the size of the club. They’ve already won the Champions League back in 1969-70 season where they defeated Scottish side Celtic in the final in extra time with the score of 2-1

After that, Feyenoord also won the Europa League twice, once back in 1973-74 whereas once in the 2001-02 season where they defeated German club Borussia Dortmund in the final with the score of 3-2, courtesy of a brace from former Dutch forward Pierre van Hooijdonk.

Therefore, if De club van het volk win the trophy on Wednesday, they will become the first-ever club in the history of football to lift all three major European club competitions.

Roma

AS Roma is a bigger club in terms of history and pedigree compared to Feyenoord but they will come into the contest as a slight underdog, largely because of their recent form where they are winless in the last five matches across all competitions, including three draws and two defeats.

Their poor form domestically has now opened the door for the likes of Fiorentina and Atalanta to cement their place in the top six.

In terms of the Conference League, Roma looked dominant since the start of their journey where they thrashed CSKA Sofia with a score of 5-1.

Despite securing a comfortable win in their first two matches, I Giallorossi suffered a humiliating loss at the hands of Bodø/Glimt in their third outing.

Roma’s 6-1 loss against the Norwegian club was huge in terms of goals margin where Erik Botheim and Ola Solbakken scored a pair in the match for their side.

In the next game, the Rome-based club recovered well against the same team, managing to draw with a score of 2-2.

After the initial games of the competition, Roma piled up wins in their remaining group stage matches and reached the knockout stage on the back of consecutive success.

Roma triumphed against Vitesse in the round-of-16 clash with an aggregate score of 2-1.

In the quarterfinals, the Serie A giants thrashed Bodø/Glimt with a score of 5-2, including a 4-0 thumping in the second leg.

In the semifinals, Roma proved to be superior to Premier League outfit Leicester City as they progressed to the last two with an aggregate win of 2-1.

In total, Roma scored 27 goals in just 12 matches — second-most in the competition — but conceded 15 as well — fourth-highest in the competition behind only SK Slavia Praha (22), Lincoln Red Imps FC (17) and Randers FC (16).

Player to watch out for

Feyenoord will vary of a threat posed by AS Roma’s striker Tammy Abraham. The 24-year-old has been in inspirational form in the competition for the Serie A giants having already scored nine times in just 12 outings which made him the second-highest scorer in the tournament.

The England international is having an outstanding time in Italy during his first campaign after moving from Premier League outfit Chelsea in a deal worth €40 million.

Since then, Abraham has already netted 24 goals and provided five assists in 50 matches across all competitions, the kind of numbers which would make anyone proud.

Roma’s manager Jose Mourinho will be hoping that his young forward will showcase his talent at the highest level and bring his team some glory in a rather disappointing campaign.

Historical achievements

AS Roma, despite all the success on the domestic front, where they’ve won three league titles in their illustrious history, have never won a major continental title.

Therefore, on Wednesday, they will have a great opportunity to lift their first European title when they will go up against the Dutch side.

It will be Roma’s second appearance in a major European final. The last time they faced Inter Milan in the final of the UEFA Cup where they suffered a defeat with an aggregate score of 2-1.

The biggest advantage for I Giallorossi will be their manager Mourinho who has a proven record when it comes to the final of the European competitions.

He led FC Porto and Inter to famous Champions League triumphs and later also took Manchester United to the Europa League crown.

He will have an opportunity to become the first coach to lift all three major European club competitions.