The clash between the two giants, Real Madrid and Liverpool, is renewed, on Saturday evening, in the Champions League final, at the Stade de France in the French capital, Paris.
Paris is preparing to host the Champions League final for the sixth time in its history, this time in the suburb of Saint-Denis.
3 final matches were held at the Parc de Prince or Parc des Princes in Paris, and 2 at the Stade de France before the expected clash between the Royal and the Reds.
The official capacity of the Stade de France is 80,000 fans, making it one of the largest football stadiums in the world.
This stadium was established to participate in hosting the 1998 World Cup matches in France, and it became the headquarters of the French national team matches in Paris.
The first match held on this stadium was the friendly match between the French and Spanish teams on January 28, 1998, a few months before the stadium hosted the World Cup matches, and former star Zinedine Zidane scored a goal to lead his country to a 1-0 victory.
This stadium also witnessed France’s 3-0 victory over Brazil in the final match of the 1998 World Cup, where this match witnessed two goals also for the legend Zidane.
Interestingly, Paris witnessed a nightmare for Real Madrid, when the latter lost the final of the 1981 version, that is, 41 years from now, at the hands of Liverpool itself, its rival in the next match, but despite that, it was crowned twice in 1956 and 2000 at the expense of the French Stade Reims and Valencia, Spain, respectively.
The following list shows the previous 5 final matches hosted by the French capital, Paris, throughout the history of the Champions League:
- 1956 – The Princes’ Garden hosted the final of the first edition of the tournament, and Real Madrid of Spain beat Reims Stadium, France, 3/4.
- 1975 – Bayern Munich beat Leeds United 2-0 at the Princes’ Garden.
- 1981 – Liverpool won the Champions League by defeating Real Madrid at the Princes’ Garden.
- 2000 – Real Madrid beat Valencia 3-0 in an all-Spanish final at the Stade de France.
- 2006 – Barcelona won the championship title at the Stade de France by defeating Arsenal 2-1 in the final.