Champions League Final 2018: Real Madrid vs. Liverpool, Live Updates and Analysis

Real Madrid faces Liverpool on Saturday in the UEFA Champions League final in Kiev, Ukraine. Madrid is in the final four the third year in a row, and the fourth time in five years. Liverpool last played in the final in 2007.

Lluis Gene/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

How to watch: In the United States, the game will kick off at 2:45 p.m. Eastern on Fox Sports and ESPN Deportes. If you’re reading in another country, you can find your viewing options here.

What to Expect in the Champions League Final

• Goals. Liverpool set a tournament record this season with 46. Their player to watch is Mohamed Salah, the Egyptian striker who led the Premier League in scoring and has 44 goals in all competitions. Real Madrid counters with its Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, the leading scorer in Champions League history (120 goals in 152 appearances).

• Ronaldo scored 15 goals in 12 Champions League games this season. One more on Saturday would make him the only player to score in four Champions League finals.

• Real Madrid is looking to extend its record by winning a 13th Champions League title, and to become the first team since Bayern Munich (1974-76) to claim three in a row.

• “We’ll never live this again,” Real Madrid Manager Zinedine Zidane said Friday. “We’ll live other moments but we’ll never have today and tomorrow again. We need to take advantage. If there’s pressure, well, that’s life. It makes it better.”

• Liverpool is chasing its sixth trophy, which would move it ahead on Bayern Munich and Barcelona on the all-time list. Only Madrid and A.C. Milan, with seven, have more. The Reds’ last visit to the final was in 2007 (a loss to Milan). Their last triumph was in 2005, when Liverpool rallied from a 3-0 halftime deficit to beat Milan on penalties — a game that has become known as the Miracle of Istanbul.

• “This club has it in its DNA to win big things,” Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp said Friday. “We are here because we are Liverpool. We cannot try to fight on their level, but tactics in football are there to bring an opponent onto your level.”

The Stadium Is Filling, and the Teams Arrive

From Rory in Kiev: The NSC Olympiskiy in Kiev is starting to fill with fans: a few thousand are in the north curve of the stadium, reserved for Liverpool; “Allez Allez Allez,” the soundtrack to the club’s season, is booming out. A vast cheer went up, a little after 8:20 p.m. local time, when Liverpool’s distinctive cherry red bus was shown arriving at the stadium. An even bigger one was reserved for the first glimpse of Mohamed Salah.

There are only a few hundred people, so far, in the bright white of Real Madrid in the south end: many more are choosing to linger outside, in the warm sunshine of downtown Kiev, or (more likely) struggling to make it through stringent, but brisk, security checks.

For all the doubts about the suitability of the city as a venue for club soccer’s biggest game, for all the logistical challenges fans have faced to get here and for all the inflated hotel prices they have had to pay to find a bed, Kiev —now Kyiv, as the locals waste no time in pointing out — has pulled out all the stops. Khreschatyk, the main shopping boulevard, has been closed off as a fan zone; traffic has been barred from much of the center all day. Whitney Houston has been blaring out of vast speakers on Maidan, the city’s Independence Square, all day, for reasons that do not remain entirely clear, as fans passed the long hours before evening, and the moment they have awaited all season.

The Lineups Are Out

✅ ¡Nuestro once inicial para la Final de Champions contra el @LFCEspanol! #APorLa13 | #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/KZDSyZXArP
— Real Madrid C.F. ⚽️ (@realmadrid) May 26, 2018

Real Madrid: Keylor Navas; Dani Carvajal, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo; Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Isco, Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo

Bench: Kiko Casilla, Nacho Fernández, Theo Hernández, Mateo Kovacic, Marco Asensio, Lucas Vázquez, Gareth Bale

The Spanish news media had been suggesting that Zidane would go with the BBR front line of Benzema, Gareth Bale and Ronaldo, but even Isco for Bale (who is available as a sub) sends an aggressive signal. It also suggests Zidane has supreme confidence that his world-class back line, protected by Casemiro, is capable of shutting down Salah and Co.

Tonight's #UCLfinal line-up...#WeAreLiverpool pic.twitter.com/3lkznSLDkH
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 26, 2018

Liverpool: Loris Karius; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil Van Dijk, Dejan Lovren, Andy Robertson; Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Georginio Wijnaldum; Sadio Mané, Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah

Bench: Simon Mignolet, Nathaniel Clyne, Ragnar Klavan, Alberto Moreno, Emre Can, Adam Lallana, Dominic Solanke.

As expected from Klopp, whose front three takes a backseat to no one, even today. He will need big nights from Henderson, Milner and Wijnaldum; if Liverpool gets overpowered in midfield, it could be a long night.

Online, a Battle of Hype Videos

Real Madrid, so far, has stressed its stars, its goals and the club’s unmatched Champions League history

#APORLA13 pic.twitter.com/hogy5kW81e
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) May 26, 2018

LEGENDS!
@Karembeu, Mijatovic, @ClaudeMakelele, @TheRealSalgado, Zidane, @aarbeloa17, @RaulGonzalez, @Oficial_RC3.#APorLa13 | #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/ANOrxWZEiS
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) May 25, 2018

Liverpool is also focusing on its history, with a recap of its previous Champions League victories, and that song you won’t be able to get out of your head by the end of the night: