While some of the more glitzy names like Mohamed Salah, Karim Benzema, Virgil van Dijk and Luka Modric might steal the limelight on Saturday night, spare a thought for Fabinho.
The Liverpool star might not get the headlines but he is as crucial to this team as any of Jurgen Klopp's big guns and he knows he will be relying on the midfielder to hold back the Real Madrid attack. However, what many people might not know is the Brazilian's own experience of the Bernabeu.
Real Madrid have a history of nabbing the best talents from Brazil, including the likes of Marcelo, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo Goes, and Fabinho was no different back in 2012. While Rio Ave actually won the race for the then-Fluminese ace, Los Blancos took him on in a surprise loan move just weeks later.
While predominantly playing for Real's B team Castilla, he did made one appearance for the Spanish giants - though he hardly got the chance to strut his stuff. In one of Jose Mourinho's final matches in charge at the Bernabeu, he sent a 19-year-old Fabinho on to replace Fabio Coentrao with 14 minutes left. Despite the lack of game-time, he still managed an assist for Angel di Maria as Real thrashed Malaga 6-2.
But that was about as far as Fabinho's Real career would go and the following year he signed for Monaco on loan before joining permanently. The midfielder, who could also play at full-back, was then famously part of the famous side that reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2017, beating Tottenham, Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund along the way, while also clinching the Ligue 1 title ahead of Paris Saint-Germain.
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The Brazil international would spend one more year in the principality before heading to Liverpool where he has grown into one of the best defensive midfielders in the world. Reds coach Pepijn Lijnders describes him as Liverpool's "lighthouse" who controls the "organised chaos" on show at Anfield.
“To adapt to the intensity of our play, that takes time. Not many can do it, and in certain positions it is easier than others,” he explained. “If you are a front player and you come in, and you are used to playing in an attacking way, then it is easier, depending on the specific attributes you have as a player.
“For him, to play in a midfield three as we did at the start of the season, we knew from the first second, we knew from the videos that it would take time. His impulse of defending forward is absolutely of the highest level. The question as a No. 6 is that you are moving more side to side than forwards. Then of course you have to adapt.
“And then we find a good solution to change to 4-4-2. And from that moment it helped so much, and then you saw the real Fabinho. Inside the ‘organised chaos’ that we want, that we like, he is like a lighthouse, he controls it and for me, you can still have the style of the gaffer and how we want to identify ourselves."
There have been some injury worries in recent weeks over Fabinho but the consensus around Merseyside is that he will be lining up at the Stade de Paris on Saturday night when the Champions League music bellows out as Liverpool gun down their seventh European cup. There might not be one player that wants it more.
