It is sometimes said that Real Madrid don't play finals... they win them. And that statement is true almost all of the time in the Champions League, with Los Blancos unbeaten at the final hurdle in their past six showpiece appearances in Europe's premier club competition.
Indeed, if Real Madrid feel a sense of entitlement in the Champions League, it is because it is their special trophy. It has been since day one and with 12 wins, they are five ahead of the tournament's second-most successful side, AC Milan.
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Saturday's final against Liverpool in Kiev will be Real's 16th in the European Cup and Champions League. And of the previous 15, Los Blancos have prevailed on 12 occasions, losing at the last hurdle only three times.
Madrid claimed the first five European Cups between 1956 and 1960, beating Stade de Reims (in two finals), Fiorentina, AC Milan and Eintracht Frankfurt in those matches.
Their next two final appearances both ended in defeat, however. Real lost 5-3 to Benfica in 1962, before going down 3-1 to Inter two years later. Two seasons after that, though, they were victorious again as they beat Partizan 2-1 in Brussels.
The then six-time champions then had to wait 15 years for another appearance in the final and that one ended in defeat, a 1-0 loss to Saturday's rivals Liverpool at the Parc des Princes in 1981.
That means the Reds remain the last team to beat Real in a European Cup final and could be a good omen for Jurgen Klopp's side heading into this weekend's game in Kiev.
However, none of the players from either side were born back then and if anything, Madrid will take confidence from their extraordinary recent record in the competition.
Since the European Cup was rebranded as the Champions League in 1992-93, Los Blancos have won it six times: in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016 and again last season.
In those finals, Madrid beat Juventus, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico twice in succession and then Juve again.
Overall, Real have won six European Cups and six Champions League crowns in a combined total of 12 titles. And in the competition's more recent format, nobody has been able to defeat them in a final.
Liverpool will hope to become the first, but the stats show it will be anything but easy as Madrid look to get their hands back on a trophy they are so used to taking home with them this time of year.
