Unic Press UK: The final of the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League will be played Saturday, the 26th May 2018, in Kiev – the capital city of Ukraine. The match, between Real Madrid FC and Liverpool FC, will start at 19:45.
According to the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the Real Madrid FC manager Zinédine Zidane said:
“This will probably be the hardest final we’ve ever had to play. We will have to be at our very best – we know that – and on all levels, not just physical. They’re an English team, so they will never give up, but they don’t just rely on their physical attributes. Liverpool are also good technically, with a lot of speed and great individual players.”
UEFA also reported the views of the Liverpool FC manager Jürgen Klopp in relation to the final:
“There are many reasons why we are where we are right now, and I’m immensely proud of what the boys have achieved. We aren’t anyone else. We are Liverpool, on the way to becoming a really good team, and performing at such a high level is very cool. It’s been a crazy ride but, after all, we’ve earned our place here.”
To be at this year’s Champions League final, Real Madrid FC defeated Bayen Munich 4-3 on aggregate score; and Liverpool FC won their semi-final match against Roma 7-6 (aggregate score)
About UEFA Champions League
“Football’s premier club competition, the European Champion Clubs’ Cup was launched soon after UEFA’s first Congress, held in Vienna on 2 March 1955, yet the competition was not a UEFA initiative.
“Whereas many of UEFA’s founder members were more interested in establishing a national team competition, the French sports daily L’Equipe and its then-editor Gabriel Hanot were championing the cause for a Europe-wide club competition. Hanot, together with colleague Jacques Ferran, designed a blueprint for a challenge tournament to be played on Wednesdays under floodlights. The tournament initiated by L’Equipe did not stipulate that the participating teams had to be champions of their country, but they invited clubs who they considered had the most fan appeal.
“UEFA – which had been founded in June 1954 – reacted by contacting the world body FIFA, and the latter’s Executive Committee, meeting in London on 8 May 1955, authorised the new club competition under the condition that it was organised by UEFA and that the national associations concerned gave their consent to their clubs taking part. UEFA’s Executive Committee accepted the conditions laid down by FIFA and agreed to run the competition at its meeting on 21 June 1955.
“Real Madrid immediately made the tournament their own by winning the first five finals. Real Madrid have been the most successful side in the UEFA Champions League era, lifting the trophy six times in as many final appearances. Madrid are also the most successful club overall with 12 triumphs, followed by seven for Milan, five for Barcelona, Bayern and Liverpool, then four for Ajax. The major turning point in the tournament’s evolution had come in the 1992/93 season when the UEFA Champions League, involving a group stage in addition to the traditional knockout elements, was officially inaugurated after a pilot round robin during the previous campaign. The popularity of the group phase means the competition has grown from eight to 32 teams with matches held on Tuesdays and Wednesdays across Europe.” (UEFA)
