REAL MADRID have enjoyed an incredible Champions League adventure and now stand just 90 minutes from glory as they look to dump Liverpool and complete a memorable treble.
The Bernabeu giants have showed remarkable powers of resilience in the knockout rounds, seeing off Paris-St Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City when they flirted with disaster in all three games.
Having dumped two Premier League giants on the road to Paris, Carlo Ancelotti's men will be confident of making it a hat-trick when they square up to Liverpool.
And it would complete an impressive treble for Real Madrid, having already picked up the La Liga title and Spanish Supercopa to underline their domestic dominance.
Jurgen Klopp's Reds are also chasing a treble of their own, although at one point on Sunday it looked like they would be chasing an incredible Quadruple.
Had Manchester City not scored three goals in six minutes at home to Aston Villa, Liverpool would have landed the Premier League title and headed into this Euro showpiece on a massive high.
But after that day of final-day drama in England, which saw four of my five Premier League bets come up, Klopp's players must now pick themselves up and shake off the disappointment to focus on European success.
These giants have lifted the European Cup 19 times between them, with Real claiming a record 13 triumphs, so it's a fitting climax to what has been a memorable Champions League campaign.
How the bookies view it
Liverpool are odds-on favourites to lift the trophy at a best 4/7 with Bet365 while Real Madrid are as big as 6/4 at William Hill, which will attract plenty of interest. For a Reds win inside 90 minutes, the odds increase to 11/10 with SBK who price Real Madrid at 13/5. The draw at 90 minutes pays 14/5.
Head to head
Real Madrid are unbeaten in their last five clashes against Liverpool, having lost their first three encounters in Europe. The Spanish giants won 3-1 in the 2018 final (below) then triumphed by the same score on aggregate when they faced off in last season's quarter-finals.
Players to watch
Injuries have disrupted Mo Salah's end to the season a bit so I'm backing Sadio Mane for a goal in this Euro final after he delivered for me against Wolves at the weekend. The Senegal star has nine goals from his last 13 games and is 2/1 at Ladbrokes for anytime scorer.
Karim Benzema has been the star of this season's Champions League and delivered for me in the clash against PSG. He scored a hat-trick that night and has netted 14 times in Real's Euro campaign, an incredible statistic. That makes the 31/21 on offer at SBK for a goal in the final look a bit overpriced.
Anything else catch the eye?
European Cup finals can often be an anti-climax and the last three showpieces have been poor games, with all three seeing under 2.5 goals and BTTS failing to land. But it ended 3-1 when these teams faced off in the 2018 showpiece and the goals have been flying in for both sides in this season's Champions League.
That's why over 2.5 goals is a best 19/25 for this one while the price is as big as 59/50 with Unibet for under 2.5 strikes. I'm tempted to bet against another thriller, given Liverpool's two domestic cup finals this term produced no goals and had to be settled by penalties.
Eder Militao made a few rash challenges in the games against Chelsea and Manchester City so there could be some value in backing him for a few fouls. The Brazilian is 27/20 at Unibet just to concede over 1.5 fouls, which looks very tempting, while Paddy Power price him at 7/2 for a card.
Liverpool play a high defensive line and Ancelotti might try to exploit that with the pace of Vinicius Junior. The Brazilian is evens at Unibet to be caught offside over 0.5 times and that is another great option.
This UEFA Champions League match between Liverpool and Real Madrid will be played on May 28, 2022 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Liverpool vs Real Madrid prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.