Saturday Cannon Fodder: final

There’s a somewhat important football match today — the Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Liverpool. It’s a rematch of the 2017-18 Final won 3-1 by Real Madrid, although not without controversy. Liverpool and Mo Salah in particular, will be looking for a bit of revenge. Midway through the first half, the Egyptian striker was wrestled to the ground by Sergio Ramos, injuring his shoulder and forcing him out of the match.

There was a bit of a question mark whether Salah would be fit after picking up a minor injury two weeks ago, but he’s returned to training and good to go. Thiago is the only injury concern for either side, although it looks as if he’ll be available for at least some playing time. Which is as it should be. It’s great that both sides will have their full complement of players.

Real Madrid are looking for their 14th Champions League title and first since besting Liverpool 4 years ago. Liverpool are chasing their 7th. The Reds most recently won in 2018-19, when they beat Tottenham.

On paper, Liverpool are the better side. They’re a machine that churned through every competition they were in this year. They barely missed out on the PL title — thanks Manchester City, can you imagine how insufferable Liverpool fans would be if they won a quadruple? But there’s something about this Real Madrid side, a bit of magic. They looked dead in the water against Manchester City before managing one of the greatest comebacks in CL history in the semifinals.

Who ya got and why?

Hang out here and chat about the game later! It’s broadcast on CBS at 3 pm ET.