A repeat of last year’s final. Liverpool goes at Real Madrid again, will they find the recipe after three attempts?

The 2018 final, the 2021 quarter-final, the 2022 final. Liverpool have beaten Real Madrid in the Champions League three times in the last five years, and each time they have been left with nothing but tears. Can the Reds finally turn it around at the fourth attempt?

Interestingly, each time the teams have come up against each other in a completely different frame of mind. Real Madrid entered the 2018 final in Kiev as the kings of Europe, with two straight LM wins and a hat-trick under their belts.

Against Klopp’s Liverpool, who had only just established themselves among the elite and made an unexpected final, they were big favourites. He proved it when he won 3-1.

Three years later, the teams entered the match in a similar role. Both teams were plagued by a huge number of players, especially in defence, with Real missing stoppers Ramos and Varane and the Reds missing Van Dijk, Gomez and Matip.

Los Blancos won the first leg 3-1, and in the return leg at Anfield Road they secured promotion after a goalless draw. Last season, the red-white duel happened again, this time in the final.

Liverpool went into it in tremendous form. Along with Manchester City, it was considered the best team in the world at the moment, winning both English Cups and storming to the quadruple.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, were constantly underestimated, were trusted by few, were usually the worse team in the play-offs and progressed further, mainly thanks to the magic at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Even so, Real Madrid managed to win 1: 0 after a goal by Vinícius Junior. Thus, in the last three encounters, Real Madrid have come away victorious each time. The teams met in the last decade back in the 2014/15 edition of the competition, Los Blancos winning 3: 0 at home and 1: 0 at Anfield Road.

Liverpool thus have a lot to return to their Spanish rivals. However, they are not in ideal form at the moment either. At least it has made a slight start with two wins in a row, but before that it was a huge cramp. The Reds are only eighth in the Premier League and the attack has been pretty stagnant.

Source: UEFA, Premier League