Will fans be treated to a glut of goals in the Luzhniki Stadium on Wednesday night?
By David Barber. Tuesday, 20 May 2008.
There used to be goals galore in the UEFA Champions League Final, when it was known as the "European Champion Clubs' Cup Final".
The competition was introduced in the 1955-56 season, with no English club taking part, and the first seven Finals produced 39 goals.
Spanish giants Real Madrid, playing in their fifth consecutive Final, and West German champions Eintracht Frankfurt conjured up a classic in 1960 to delight 135,000 fans inside Hampden Park. Real went behind after ten minutes but ended up winning 7-3, with Ferenc Puskas scoring four and Alfredo Di Stefano three.
In those first seven Finals there was also a 5-3, a 4-3 and two 3-2s.
It got a bit more cagey after that. In fact, in the 20 years from 1976 to 1995 it finished 1-0 on TWELVE occasions.
There were even six 1-0s in a row from 1978 to 1983 - Liverpool v Bruges (at Wembley), Nottingham Forest v Malmo, Nottingham Forest v Hamburg, Liverpool v Real Madrid, Aston Villa v Bayern Munich and Hamburg v Juventus. After that it was 1-1, 1-0 and 0-0.
So what kind of Final will it be in Moscow tomorrow - a stack of goals or another of those 1-0s? Chelsea and Manchester United met in The FA Cup Final last year and that was...1-0.