Stade de France, located in the St Denis suburb of the French capital, is the site of this season’s UCL final since the honor was stripped from St Petersburg’s Gazprom Stadium, home to Russian club FC Zenit. Kick off time is set for 20:00 BST (19:00 GMT).
Real Madrid has a slight historical advantage over Liverpool in head-to-head ties, having won four, drawn one, and lost three. Los Blancos have scored ten goals while conceding eight against the Reds. The odds makers however are leaning a little toward a Liverpool victory in the final night of the 2021-22 football season.
Heading into the match, Real Madrid has 13 champion-of-Europe trophies in the cabinet, Liverpool six. Both numbers are testimonials to the clubs’ historic and continuing success.
Carlo Ancelotti also has a slight advantage in head to head meetings against Jurgen Klopp. The Italian tactician has won four, drawn three and lost three, his sides scoring eleven goals and conceding just seven.
All of those numbers can mean little in a UCL final match. The mentality of each player added to the coach’s desire to win will add up to create one masterpiece final.
MD-13 Build-Up
On Friday, Carlo Ancelotti, Thibaut Courtois and Marcelo took to the press. From the other camp, Liverpool wing-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson joined Jurgen Klopp. Find out what they said:
@MrAncelotti#UCL | #APorLa14 pic.twitter.com/rH9RKbBSb8
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) May 27, 2022
@thibautcourtois#UCL | #APorLa14 pic.twitter.com/3RIedELE2D
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) May 27, 2022
@MarceloM12 #UCL | #APorLa14 pic.twitter.com/9n9ULEfzA2
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) May 27, 2022
The boss wants us to be a 'really uncomfortable opponent' for Real Madrid in tomorrow's #UCLfinal
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 27, 2022
Our full-backs ❤
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 27, 2022
~
If you missed it, it is worth going back to read NMA’s UCL Final Preview. My fellow author and UCL expert Sraxan has also given us his UCL Final player picks, and Dhivakhar shared his plan for tackling the tricky upcoming UCL Final.
Fantasy Rules
This is just a reminder that fantasy managers are allowed five free transfers ahead of MD-12. Also, we’re allowed up to eight players from each club in our squads.
Lineups should be released about an hour before kickoff, so be sure to check this space in the countdown hour to make your transfers from among the confirmed starters.
Injury/suspension updates
Here are the latest injury / suspension updates:
Real Madrid squad has no injury concerns. Ancelotti took his foot off the pedal in his last four domestic matches, having already secured the La Liga title. The whole squad is fully fit and has had about 20 days of preparation.
Liverpool have a minor concern over Thiago Alcantara’s fitness after his injury in GW-38 against Wolves last week. Klopp says that he is optimistic over the play-maker’s full recovery ahead of the match. Finally, there are no suspended players, so both coaches have all the assets they need to create an entertaining masterpiece to end the season.
How’s your team faring? We have five free transfers this time — do you have any questions about how you should use them? Whom will you captain? Which team are you rooting for as a fan? And do you somehow have a chip in play? Please share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!
~
Loading comments...