The Champions in numbers: the ‘World Cup’ of each year that never ceases to fascinate in every corner of the planet

Every football lover knows that today he has a special appointment scheduled, which cannot be absent under any pretext. When the clock strikes 2 in the afternoon (Peruvian time) this Saturday, May 25, the great priority will be to enjoy the Champions League final. It doesn’t matter where you see it from. Some will have the privilege of being at the Stade de France, others will watch it through a giant screen, others from home or work. But the truth is that the greatest attention on the planet will be focused on Paris, the capital of romance, where real Madrid Y Liverpool They will make our hearts flutter with a splendid battle for the ‘Orejona’.

The eyes of the world will be on the ‘Stade de France’ and not because there is a World Cup in between. For Qatar 2022 there are still many months to go. But, in just hours, the ball will already be rolling in the Champions League final, which is like the ‘World Cup’ every year because of its impressive reach in every corner of the planet.

Liverpool and Real Madrid will be the protagonists this time. Previously both teams had met forces in European finals twice. The first was in the 1980/81 season, when the ‘Reds’ won 1-0 with a goal from Alan Kennedy. The second and last time was recently, in the 2017/18when the ‘whites’ triumphed 3-1 with a goal from Karim Benzema and a brace from Gareth Bale.

Now they will hold a true rematch in which much more will be at stake than just a trophy. Keep in mind that this will be the first time in the history of the competition that the same clubs will meet in three finals.

real Madridcurrent champion of LaLiga and leader of the winners of the Champions League (13 titles), will have to face a difficult Liverpoolsix-time champion of the tournament, who finished second in an intense close of the Premier League and who won the FA Cup and the League Cup this season.

Each of the protagonists has a personal struggle in this final, like Mohamed Salah, for example, who in the 2017/18 final had to leave injured early in the match due to an injury to his arm. This new duel against Real Madrid represents more than a revenge for the Egyptian.

In addition, for Salah, being the scorer of this Liverpool with eight goals in the current edition of the Champions League, this match represents a great opportunity to snatch the status of favorite for the Ballon d’Or from Karim Benzema, the merengue scorer, who leads the scoring table of the tournament with 15 conquests.

Millions at stake

Behind a rolling ball, there are many millions in motion, especially in the Champions League, which continues to increase its economic incentives over the years. In fact, UEFA increased the prizes to be distributed among all participating clubs to 3.6% based on the previous campaignreaching an amount of 2,032 million euros.

However, the profits have depended on the progress and triumphs personally of each club in the different stages of the competition. For participating in the group stage, each team received 15.6 million euros. Although it should also be noted that in this phase each victory meant 2.8 million revenues and draws pocketed 930 thousand euros.

The prize pools in the knockout stages were then split to €9.6m for reaching the round of 16, €10.6m for the quarter-finals, €12.5m for the semi-finals and €15.5m for the finalists, which in this case are Real Madrid and Liverpool.

Among other parameters of the distribution of these economic prizes, is the UEFA coefficient ranking. Each point obtained in this classification, out of a maximum of 32, awards 1.1 million euros to each team. In addition, the ‘market pool’, which takes into account audiences and television rights, also plays an important role with 291 million to distribute, although that is only distributed at the end of the competition.

From all the above, the Real Madrid has already entered a total of 105.34 million euros so far, while the Liverpool is the only one that surpasses him with 115.80 million euros. But that is not all. Now both must wait for the last reward: 4.5 million for winning the Champions League.

Speaking of millions, it is necessary to compare the value of each team. The white club, which has 26 players on its squad with an average age of 27.5 years, is valued at 756.5 million euros, according to the specialized portal Transfermarkt. The player with the highest price on the merengue squad is Vinícius Junior with 100 million.

For their part, the ‘Reds’ have an extensive squad of 27 players with an average age of 27.2 years. The total valuation of the Anfield club is 900.5 million, with Mohamed Salah being the best valued with 100 million.

All these millions can also weigh on the court, but the truth is that there are many factors that will intervene in the game. In addition, it is already fully demonstrated that in football anything can happen. Both teams have experienced it first hand, both for and against. So in Paris, the prognosis is reserved, there is no favorite, only two teams that after doing things well, with hierarchy and sacrifice.