BEN MEMULETIWON
The stage is set. The battle line is drawn. The battle field is the Olympic National Sports Complex, a multi-use sports and recreation facility in Kiev, Ukraine, where defending champions, Real Madrid, confront Liverpool in the grand finale of the UEFA Champions League.
It promises to be one hell of a fight as Liverpool are determined to prove bookmakers wrong by repeating their 2005 feat when they beat AC Milan in the final.
The UEFA Champions League final is the biggest event in club football. And the Olympic National Sports Complex, which was opened on August 12, 1923, will be metaphorically on fire tonight.
Real Madrid have just 90 minutes to etch its name in the Guinness Book of Records as the first club to win the Champions League for three consecutive times. But they are faced with the most arduous task against a determined Liverpool that parade the deadliest attack in modern football. That is talking about the deadly combination of Mohammed Sallah, Sadio Mani and Roberto Ferminho.
Zinedine Zidane, that has fast become a coach with the Midas touch, seems to have possessed the key to lock down the English team, as he aims for a fourth Champions League title in five years; an unprecedented three in a row; and a record 13th time overall.
Liverpool, on the other hand, are gunning for European title Number 6, having last won at the Miracle of Istanbul in 2005, beating AC Milan on penalties after trailing 3-0 at half-time.
The 2018 Champions League final will be the sixth meeting between Liverpool and Real Madrid.
The Reds currently hold a 3-2 advantage but lost both their two most recent clashes four seasons ago.
No member of Liverpool’s squad has previously played in a UEFA Champions League final.
Jurgen Klopp has lost his last five major finals as a manager.
