Liverpool vs Real Madrid: Champions League Final Preview & Potential Lineups

Stade de France plays host as record-time European champions Real Madrid and six-time winners Liverpool go head-to-head in a mouth-watering Champions League final. 

Saturday's Paris showpiece sees Los Blancos' gaffer Carlo Ancelotti searching for a record-breaking fourth Champions League trophy as a manager. 

Standing between Ancelotti and his second Champions League title in Madrid's dugout will be a high-flying Liverpool side seeking a treble of cup successes this term.

Jurgen Klopp's side came agonisingly close to dethroning Manchester City in the Premier League, only to see their dreams of claiming a historic quadruple crash in the final moments of the season. 

Despite falling one point short of the Cityzens in one of the fiercest Premier League title battles in recent years, the Reds are still looking to round off an impressive season in style. 

Only perfection will do for Liverpool, as they are about to encounter the newly-crowned La Liga champions, who have survived one hell of a knock-out campaign in the Champions League. 

Match Preview

Liverpool

Scars of a heartbreaking 3-1 defeat in the 2018 showpiece in Kyiv, highlighted by Sergio Ramos' malicious challenge on Mohamed Salah and Loris Karius' epic blunders, are still fresh in the Liverpool camp. 

Klopp's men will be out in Paris looking to avenge last season's quarter-final elimination, where they lost 3-1 in Spain before drawing 0-0 at Anfield. 

Liverpool can fall back on their impressive European run outside Anfield, as they've won 12 of their last 15 Champions League fixtures away from Merseyside (D1, L2). 

The Reds have reached the final as the first-ever side to win all six away matches in a single Champions League season, including a pair of wins over Los Merengues' fellow La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid and Villarreal.

Moreover, Klopp's lads have won ten games in this season's Champions League, setting an unprecedented feat in the club's rich European history.

Real Madrid

It's been one of the most challenging springtime journeys in the Champions League history, as Madrid had to overcome the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City to get to the grand final.

Nail-biting twists and turns and memorable comebacks have defined Los Merengues' arduous path to Paris, with Karim Benzema running the show.

The Frenchman has tied Cristiano Ronaldo's record for ten goals scored in a single Champions League knock-out campaign and became only the fourth player to notch up hat-tricks in successive knock-out matches. 

So all eyes will be on the Ballon d'Or-bidding Benzema as the Spaniards look to maintain their outstanding 100% win ratio in the Champions League finals under the current format. 

Since the introduction of the new format in 1992, Los Merengues have won all seven grand finales they featured in, with this marking an unprecedented eighth appearance in the competition's showpiece. 

How could Liverpool and Real Madrid line up?

Liverpool Potential Starting XI 

(4-3-3): Alisson; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip, Andy Robertson; Thiago Alcantara, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson; Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Luis Diaz.

Real Madrid Potential Starting XI 

(4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois; Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Ferland Mendy; Luka Modric, Casemiro, Toni Kroos; Vinicius Junior, Karim Benzema, Federico Valverde.