Why this Champions League final could be a classic

The last time both sides scored more than once in a Champions League was that famed frenetic evening in Istanbul.

It's been 13 years since Liverpool pulled off one of football's most miraculous comebacks, nullifying a trio of first-half goals from AC Milan to force and win a penalty shootout in a result that further cemented the Merseyside lot's continental pedigree.

Related - By the numbers: Continental giants set to clash in Kyiv

The latest incarnation of the Reds returns to a first Champions League final since 2007 to face record 12-time winner Real Madrid, and with both sides boasting heaps in attack, there's reason to believe this finale could rival Liverpool's last.

Brilliant in attack

Mohamed Salah headlines the tournament's most efficient attacking trio, while Cristiano Ronaldo continues to shatter continental goal-scoring records.

Salah, Roberto Firmino, and Sadio Mane have combined for 29 strikes, the highest output by a triumvirate in Champions League history, besting the 28 tallies bagged by Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Gareth Bale in 2013-14. All six of those attackers look sure to play a part in Saturday's final, with Zinedine Zidane likely to call oft-injured Welsh speedster Bale off the bench. James Milner's eight assists are a Champions League record, Firmino has chipped in with seven, and the 40 goals scored by Liverpool is top in this year's tournament, 10 better than second-best Real.

From Los Blancos' perspective, Zidane has ditched the BBC set-up, with Isco replacing Bale in the starting lineup to good results. Despite's Ronaldo late-career shift to a quasi No. 9, the bronzed Euro 2016 winner will likely start on the left of Benzema, and for all the talk of the Frenchman's drop in statistical returns, he has been the perfect accessory to the Portuguese star's success. Ronaldo leads the tournament with 15 goals and netted in a competition-record 10 consecutive games before the semi-final stage, and his 6.6 shots per match are two better than the next closest player.

Concerns at the back

Saturday's sojourn in the Ukranian capital promises to be a goal-friendly affair, and it comes down to more than just the personnel in attack.

Both teams have had defensive hiccups. Virgil van Dijk's signing has helped solidify an erratic backline, and Dejan Lovren looks a different player to the one who was yanked off in the 31st minute versus Tottenham Hotspur after a calamitous half-hour display. Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold have defied expectations, but their shortage of continental experience is still a concern in the full-back positions, with the latter likely to draw the unenviable task of marking Ronaldo. The quartet of goals scored by Roma in the semi-final second leg offered a glimpse into Liverpool's early-season defensive issues, a concern Jurgen Klopp has surely addressed in training.

Real hasn't exactly been the same rigid defensive unit as its Spanish capital rival Atletico, either. Part of that is due to being drawn against domestic league winners Bayern Munich, Juventus, and Paris Saint-Germain in each of the three knockout stages, but Zidane's lot has kept just three cleans sheets in 12 Champions League matches this season, with two of those coming against Cypriot minnow APOEL. Between them, Marcelo and Dani Carvajal have 129 Champions League appearances against Robertson and Alexander-Arnold's combined 12, but the worry is the Real pairing may find itself too far up the pitch on occasion, pulling centre-halves Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane out of position, and Salah will look to profit from Marcelo's forays in attack.

The cagey nature of a continental final often leads to slow starts, but if there are two sides capable of matching the Miracle of Istanbul's six-goal haul, it's these two. This could be a classic