Real Madrid vs. Liverpool: Champions League Prediction, Odds

It’s Spanish side Real Madrid against English Premier League club Liverpool, which is a sizable betting underdog for the match in Kiev.

Champions League Odds and Betting Analysis

Normally, the Champions League is the last major soccer event of the year and bettors have to wait until August until the top European leagues start up again. However, this summer we have the World Cup to tide us over. There are only two things bigger in soccer in Europe than the Champions League: the World Cup and European Championship. The former, though, occurs only every four years and the latter every two. Those are also competitions matching countries. The Champions League is the annual Super Bowl of top clubs across Europe.

La Liga powerhouse Real Madrid made history last year by becoming the first club in the Champions League era to repeat, beating Italian side Juventus 4-1 in the final in Cardiff. It was Real Madrid’s 12^th UCL trophy, easily the most all-time. Either Real Madrid or bitter rival Barcelona has won it each year since the 2010-11 competition except in 2012 when English Premier League club Chelsea beat Bayern Munich in the final. Liverpool has won the Champions League title five times, last in 2005. The Reds beat Real Madrid 1-0 in the 1981 final.

This match also could have ramifications on which player takes home the Ballon d’Or honor as world’s best player for 2018. The three favourites for the award are Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah. The last player other than Ronaldo and Messi to win the award was Kaka in 2007, but Salah has a very good chance – even better if he has a big game and leads Liverpool to the Champions League title.

Ronaldo is the +299 favourite to be this match’s first goalscorer with Salah at +362. For anytime scorer, Ronaldo is -152 and Salah -120.

It’s the sixth match ever between these clubs, all coming in this competition. Liverpool leads 3-2 but Real Madrid won both games in the last meeting, the 2014-15 group stage.

Real Madrid

A victory here would help somewhat make up for a disappointing season for Real as it watched rival Barcelona win La Liga in convincing fashion, nearly making history by going unbeaten, and take the Copa del Rey. A victory in Kiev would make Real Madrid the fourth team to claim three consecutive European crowns and the first to do it twice. Madrid’s Zinédine Zidane could become the first coach to win three straight. Real advanced with a 4-3 aggregate win in the semi-finals over German power Bayern Munich.

Ronaldo is the all-time goal-scoring leader in the Champions League and leads all players this year with 15 in the competition. The Portuguese superstar is looking to become the first player in the Champions League era to be on five winning sides. Real Madrid might be even better next year if, as rumored, they are able to lure away Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain.

Liverpool

The Reds finished fourth in the Premier League. Salah already has earned PFA Player of the Year and Premier League golden boot honors as he broke the EPL record for most goals in a 38-game season with 32. The overall mark is 34 in 42 games by Andrew Cole (1993-94) and Alan Shearer (1994-95). Salah has scored 46 goals in all competitions and 10 in the Champions League to rank second with teammate Roberto Firmino behind Ronaldo. Liverpool’s Sadio Mane is third with nine goals; the Reds lead this competition by far with 40 goals scored compared to 30 for Real Madrid.

If you include two Champions League qualifiers, Liverpool has scored 46 goals in 14 matches, eclipsing the previous tournament best set by Barcelona (in 16 games) in 1999-2000. Liverpool advanced with a wild 7-6 aggregate win over AS Roma. The Reds won the first leg 5-2 and had to hang on for dear life.