Liverpool against Real Madrid in the Champions League final is a fixture for football fans to savour – two giants battling it out for one of the most prized trophies in the game. And regardless of the result, some will also see this match as a win for football over geopolitics and big money.
For these two sides making it to the final means that other powerful teams were knocked out along the way. There is no Manchester City, a club much criticised for the lavish resources it receives from the Abu Dhabi governnment. There is no Paris St-Germain, which is funded by the vast wealth of Qatar.
No sign of Chelsea either, the defending European champions, who until recently enjoyed the financial backing of a billionaire with strong connections to Russian leaders and Russian gas.
