It’s the big one in European club soccer. Fierce city rivals Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid will square off once again for the chance to be crowned club champions of Europe in the 2016 UEFA Champions League final. There won’t be much between the two great teams, as evidenced by their 2014 final, which went into extra-time.
In order to help pick the game, let’s find out who some top soccer experts think will ultimately come out on top in Milan. And for more Champions League coverage, check out our comprehensive breakdown of the final here.
Expert Picks and Predictions for the 2016 Champions League Final
Bleacher Report
EXPERT
PREDICTION
Rob Blanchette – Featured Columnist
Atletico Madrid, 1-0
Bleacher Report‘s Rob Blanchette is going with Atletico to get their revenge on Real with a 1-0 win. Blanchette outlines how Atleti have historically been in the shadow of rivals Real in Madrid, and will remain the underdogs in this matchup despite beating both Barcelona and Bayern Munich in back-to-back rounds. Atletico are priced at +105 to lift the cup, while Real are at -135.
Of course, Atletli were on their way to the title with a 1-0 lead back in 2014, until Sergio Ramos popped up with that stoppage time equalizer. A 1-0 score to Atletico is priced at +625 to be the exact scoreline in the final.
The National
EXPERT
PREDICTION
Thomas Woods – Sports Editor
Real Madrid, 2-0
The National Sports Editor Thomas Woods, though, has gone with Real to win Champions League title No. 11 with a pretty convincing 2-0 scoreline. Woods acknowledges that Atleti manager Diego Simeone’s gameplan of getting his team to defend for long stretches has work like a charm thus far in this tournament. But he also rightly points out that the margin of error with their tactic is very slim, especially in a one-off game like the final.
Woods, who also points out that Atleti have won just two of their six knockout legs in this year’s competition, feels that their luck has to run out at some point, and it’ll run out in the form of another heartbreaking loss to Real. The 2-0 Real win is +850 to come to fruition on Saturday.
The Roar
EXPERT
PREDICTION
Will Taylor – Roar Guru
Real Madrid, 2-1
Will Taylor of The Roar concurs with Woods, and also tips Real to win the title. While he admits this matchup between two very familiar foes might be a toss-up, Taylor sees their attacking midfielders – Luka Modric, Tony Kroos and Gareth Bale – giving Atleti’s defense all sorts of problems.
And that doesn’t even include Cristiano Ronaldo, whom Taylor sees as the most influential player on the pitch. Ronaldo, unsurprisingly, is the overall favorite at +350 to score the first goal in the final.
All in all, Taylor just can’t look past all of Real’s attacking weapons, and predicts Atletico to lose by the same score they lost to both Barca in their first leg and Bayern in their second leg: 2-1. That scoreline is also priced at +850 to be the final score.
