Paris is buzzing, like Kyiv in 2018... but NEVER forget why this showpiece was taken away from Russia

THE setting is perfect: one of Europe’s great cities hosting a heavyweight final.

Paris is awash with colour and the atmosphere is building as Liverpool and Real Madrid, with 19 European Cups between them, prepare to do battle.

The Stade de France has a capacity of 80,000 and, on yesterday’s evidence, most of the seats will be filled by Liverpool fans. It feels that most of Merseyside has decamped to the French capital to witness another piece of history for Jurgen Klopp and his players.

Eurostar tickets are fully booked, hotel rooms are all gone, and the city is bursting at the seams, especially with the French Open also on.

Paris is buzzing and so it should be – the eyes of the world will be on it this weekend. Yet this beautiful city found out only in February that it was to stage the 2022 Champions League final.

That was when UEFA took it away from St Petersburg due to the war in Ukraine.

That Ukraine connection brings back memories of the last meeting between these two greats clubs in a Champions League final – in Kyiv in 2018.

Liverpool striker Mo Salah went off injured after a dubious challenge before Real Madrid won 3-1 – and in the Kop camp there has been a sense of revenge in the air.

That weekend in the Ukraine capital four years ago has been at the forefront of my mind over the past few weeks.

Kyiv was so full of fans that you could not get a hotel. A few of us stayed in a forest retreat near Bucha, which is an hour from Kyiv and which has been one of the worstaffected areas of the war.

Those memories have made the conflict in Ukraine seem more haunting. No one should forget the reason this game is now in Paris.

Liverpool’s defeat in 2018 undoubtedly made them stronger a year later, when they beat Tottenham in Madrid. The 2020 final was memorable for being a mini tournament during the Covid pandemic.

Last year, Chelsea’s win over Manchester City in Porto was a special, all-English encounter. It would have been wonderful to have a Liverpool-Manchester City final this year but Liverpool v Real Madrid somehow seems right.

Liverpool are clear favourites with bookies but Real Madrid won the Spanish League title and have staged remarkable comebacks in the Champions League this season to beat Paris SaintGermain, Chelsea and Manchester City.

Despite what the bookies say, this one is almost impossible to predict. Which makes it even better.