Mo Salah Seeks Revenge as Liverpool Face Mighty Real Madrid in UEFA Champions League Final

Two of the most in-form sides in world football, FA and League Cup winners Liverpool and La Liga champions Real Madrid will confront each other in Saturday's UEFA Champions League (UCL) final. While Jurgen Klopp's boys will attempt to lift the trophy for the seventh time, the Spaniards will hope to extend their record to 14 in the competition.

With Liverpool taking on Real Madrid in a blockbuster Champions League final at the Stade de France on Saturday, Anfield talisman Mohamed Salah will eye revenge for the Reds' 2018 defeat, when they lost to the same opponents in the title clash in Kiev.

There's not even an iota of doubt that Jurgen Klopp's side has transformed itself since that heartbreaking loss, having won the UCL title in 2019, before following it with the Premier League crown in 2020.

This year, the Merseyside club missed the English triple by a whisker, having lost the Premier League race to eventual champions Manchester City with just a solitary point. But they were the winners of both the FA and the Carabao Cup.

Salah, meanwhile, missed the 2018 UCL final against Real due to an injury, and that's why he's "motivated through the roof" to win the title for Liverpool this time around.

"We have a score to settle", Salah wrote on Instagram recently, making it crystal clear that he was in no mood to forget his team's 2-0 loss in Ukraine's capital four years ago.

Yet beating Real in a continental tournament will be no mean task. After all, they are the only team to have secured the title on 13 different occasions. No other outfit has won it more than seven times (Milan).

Besides, their path to the final was also full of near miracles, as Karim Benzema and company were on the verge of being knocked out in the Round of 16, quarterfinals, and the semis.

In the pre-quarterfinals, a stunning 17-minute hat-trick from Benzema turned the tide in their favour, as they came back from a 2-0 deficit to end Paris Saint-Germain's (PSG) hopes.

In the last eight, the wizardry of the Frenchman saved them again as he became just the second man after Cristiano Ronaldo to record back-to-back hat-tricks in the knockout stages of the Champions League to send the defending champions crashing.

However, it was in the semifinals when the "real" drama unfolded, as the 35-time Spanish top-flight winners were a minute away from departing the event before a brace from Rodrygo and a Benzema goal from the penalty area saved them the blues against Man City.

If these incidents were not enough to scare Liverpool, then it must be noted that the Reds haven't beaten Real in five consecutive matches since 2009, after remaining undefeated in their first three games against them from 1981 to 2009.

Despite Real's better head-to-head record against the Merseysiders, predicting the outcome of this match has tested the pundits to the core.

Still, Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has predicted that Liverpool will come out victorious at the Stade de France tonight.

"Personally, I think Liverpool will win the Champions League. They are stronger than Real Madrid", the former France international told American television network CBS.