Kyiv’s Olympisky Stadium will host two giants of European soccer on May 26, when Liverpool from England and Real Madrid of Spain meet in the final of the Union of European Football Associations Champions League — the continent’s premier competition at the club soccer level.
Liverpool are five-time winners of the UEFA Champions League and its predecessor competition, the European Cup. The last time they lifted the trophy was in the 2004–2005 competition, when they beat Italy’s A. C. Milan on 3–2 penalties, after having come back from 0–3 down at half-time.
Real Madrid have an even more illustrious European history — the current Champions League title-holders have lifted the current trophy and the European Cup 12 times in all. Moreover, they have won the Champions League three times in the last four years.
The Spanish club will thus go into the match as the bookies’ favorites, but Liverpool, with their star of the season Mohamad Salah, will be no pushover. The last time the two teams met in a top competition final was in 1981 in Paris in the European Cup final, when Liverpool won 1–0.
Here’s how the two sides got to the final in Kyiv.
Liverpool’s road
Liverpool won the initial group stage of the competition, gaining 12 points in their games against Seville, Spartak Moscow and Maribor in Group E.
That set them up for a clash in the knockout phase’s Round of 16 with Portugal’s Porto, who had come second in Group G, with 10 points. Liverpool romped to a 0–5 away win against the Portuguese side, and drew 0–0 at home to proceed to the quarter-finals.
There, Liverpool came up against English rivals Manchester City. The Anfield side beat Spanish manager Pep Guardiola’s much-fancied team home and away with an aggregate score of 5–1 (3–0, 1–2) to power into the semi-finals.
Next up were Italian side Roma, who had beaten Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk 2–2 in the Round of 16 on the away-goal rule. At home, Liverpool netted five goals but conceded two, setting up a tense away match. Liverpool lost the away match 2–4, but with an aggregate score of 7–6 they were through to the final in Kyiv.
Real Madrid’s road
Real Madrid won 13 points in the Group H games against’ England’s Tottenham Hotspur, Germany’s Borussia Dortmund and Cypriot side APOEL, but came second overall to Tottenham.
That set them up for a difficult Round of 16 ties with the 15-point winners of Group B, Paris Saint-Germain. The French side had stormed through the group stage, scoring 25 goals and racking up the best goal difference in the competition at that time of +21. But PSG failed to continue their goal-rush, scoring only two over the two Round of 16 games, and Real Madrid went on the quarter-finals with an aggregate score of 5–2 (3–1, 1–2).
Next up were the Italian giants Juventus, who had disposed of Tottenham in the previous round with an aggregate score of 4–3. Real Madrid thumped the Italians at home, 0–3, but conceded three themselves in the home game, and won only 4–3 by aggregate after Cristiano Ronaldo scored an injury-time penalty.
That put the Spaniards up against Germany’s Bayern Munich, the 2012–2013 winners of the Champions League. Real Madrid won the tie with an aggregate score of 4–3, having gained a crucial 1–2 away-goal advantage in the first leg. The second leg ended 2–2, which was enough to send the Spanish side through to the final.
Final predictions
While the betting odds still favor Real Madrid, there’s not much to choose between the two sides, who have met five times in the past in major European competitions, Liverpool winning three times, and Real Madrid twice. The sides’ star goal scorers — Liverpool’s Mohamad Salah and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo — are both on good form, and going by previous results few are predicting a 0–0 score line at full-time.
There will definitely be a winner on May 26, as the match rules stipulate 30 minutes of extra time if there is no winner after the regulation 90 minutes, followed by a penalty shoot-out if the sides are still level after extra time.
Match details
Kickoff in Kyiv at 9:45 p. m. local time will be preceded by an opening ceremony featuring English singer Dua Lipa. The 70,000-seat Olympic Stadium will have its capacity reduced to 63,000 for the match and so should be packed, with 17,000 tickets going to each of the sides’ fans, 6,700 available for international fans, and the rest going to organizers, sponsors, and media.
The match will be broadcast live in Ukraine by the terrestrial channel Ukraina, Football 1 channel (online access to livestream costs Hr 59 or about $2.30). In the UK it can be seen on BT Sport (free to watch online) and ITV, and in Spain on Artesmedia and TV3. Audiences in the United States should tune in to Fox Sports, while in Canada TSN and RDS are showing the game.
For those in Kyiv not able to make it to the stadium, the match will be shown live in the fan zone on Khreschatyk Street, and in Kyiv’s top bars.
See stories on pages 8, 10-11 for details of where to watch the game in the Ukrainian capital.
