As we all know now Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp have been a revelation this season in the Champions League and Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and company might well be worth a bet with a simple bookmaker as they prepare to take on Champions Real Madrid in the showcase final.
The Reds were the only other Premier League team apart from Manchester City to make it through to the quarter-finals of the world’s top club competition.
Chelsea on their return to the Champions League made it to the knockout round but were comprehensively beaten over 2 legs by Barcelona after finishing 2nd to Roma who hammered the Blues 3-0 in Italy and came back from 3-0 down to tie Antonio Conte’s team at Stamford Bridge. Liverpool as we know beat Roma 7-6 on aggregate to reach the final.
While Manchester United won their group they drew Sevilla in the knockout round and had trouble with the Spanish side (as Liverpool did in the group stages) but United had serious trouble with the Spanish side. United ended up drawing the first leg 0-0 in Sevilla before losing 2-1 in the second leg at Old Trafford as Jose Mourinho’s men stumbled out of the competition in embarrassing fashion at home after a weak performance where they were clearly second best.
Man City won their group and beat Basel 5-2 over two legs in the knockout round before facing Liverpool in the quarter-finals. Liverpool of course overcame Porto 5-0 on aggregate to claim their place in the quarter-finals.
After Liverpool had inflicted the Citizens’ first League loss when the Reds beat them 4-3 at Anfield in mid-January, many people gave Liverpool a small chance in their quarter-final against City. A small chance is all they needed as Jurgen Klopp’s side battered City 3-0 in the 1st leg at Anfield and then rubbed salt into the wound by backing that up with a 2-1 away win to knock Pep Guardiola’s men out of the competition.
So as Real Madrid prepare for the final, Zinedine Zidane’s side do not have much else to worry about as their Champions League place is all locked up for next season and they have little more to worry about other than making sure they are as fit as possible for the showcase final to be played in Kiev.
Providing Chelsea beat Huddersfield Town on Tuesday in the Premier League, Liverpool (who lost 1-0 to Chelsea on Sunday) need to win their last game of the season next weekend to make sure they finish in the top 4 and only then will they be able to fully focus on the Champions League Final.
As usual hotels in the final’s host city of Kiev are charging exorbitant fees for a room but an initiative has been started by some of Kiev’s more reasonable residents where they are offering accommodation for free to Real Madrid and Liverpool fans. You can check out the Kyiv FREE Couch Facebook page for more details if you plan to attend the match.