The UCL fifth round brings together two of the most successful teams in European club football, with Liverpool taking on Real Madrid. This titanic tussle will see the Spanish Capital club and reigning champions take on England's most iconic team on this stage. Let's quickly get into the details and key information of this highly anticipated UCL match.

Match Info

Home Team: Liverpool FC

Away Team: Real Madrid FC

Venue: Anfield

Date: November 27, 2024

Team stats, league performance and key players

Liverpool FC

The club from the red side of Merseyside are firing on all cylinders at the moment, with new manager Arne Slot picking the torch from departed German tactician Jurgen Klopp. This has resulted in a perfect campaign so far, with four wins from four, propelling them to the summit of the UCL standing in the new look league phase format. These wins are all the more impressive when you consider the calibre of opposition they have dispatched, including the likes of AC Milan, RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen. They also boast the best defence, with only one goal conceded so far.

Key players to watch out for include the likes of Talismanic Mohamed Salah and the defensive duo Alexander Arnold and Captain Virgil Van Dijk, among others, in this star-studded team.

Real Madrid FC

Real Madrid have so far been a shadow of themselves this season, with their struggles well highlighted by two losses in four games. Losing to the likes of Lille and AC Milan at home is less than ideal, as these are teams they should beat easily. Carlo Ancelotti has found it hard to replace the midfield control of the retired Toni Kross, and a long-term injury to first-choice right-back Dani Carvajal has weakened the defence of the defending champions.

The signing of Kylian Mbappe has yet to produce the desired results, with the French star still finding his footing and the coach figuring out how best to utilize the player in a squad brimming with talent. The likes of Ballon D'or runner up Vini Junior, England midfield maestro Jude Bellingham and the so-far quiet but lethal Kylian Mbappe are worth keeping a close eye on in this crunch fixture.

Match prediction and picks

A quick look at the head-to-head shows the positives for the Anfield faithful end here, with the Spanish giants finding more joy historically. There have been 11 UCL matches between these giants of European football in the past. Los Blancos have won seven of the last eight matches with only a goalless draw in that sequence. The Red's only success against this opponent came in their first three games.

This season, however, Liverpool have been a very solid outfit, with three clean sheets from four matches, including all two home matches. Real Madrid also lost their only away match without scoring in a lone goal loss away to Lille. In the last five meetings in Anfield, both teams have found the net only once, with four matches where only one team scored on the day. With Bet365 offering 2.50 odd for no BTS, it looks like good value. If you are looking to bank on Real Madrid and their experience in such big matches, then a Real Madrid win at 3.60 odds looks good. You can visit Cheekypunter for experience and complete evaluation of this bookmaker.

Football fans around the world will be eagerly anticipating this heavyweight clash in the upcoming UCL round. The calibre of players who will be on display promises a match that can go down in history as one of the best nights in Champions League football in recent times.

The Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame has announced seven new members of their institution, who will comprise the Class of 2025. Players Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles, Cappie Poindexter, and Alana Beard will be joined by coaches Lucille Kyvallos, Mark Campbell, and executive Danielle Donehew.

The Woman’s Basketball Hall of Fame was founded in 1999, and the Class of 2025 will be formally inducted on June 14 at the Knoxville Theater in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sue Bird:  Considered one of the greatest women’s basketball players ever, Bird was a National Player of the Year at UConn, where she helped the Huskies win two titles.  Professionally, she played her entire WNBA career with the Seattle Storm, delivering the franchise four championships while earning 13 All-Stars, five First Team All-WNBA selections, and three Assists Titles.  A member of the WNBA 25^th Anniversary Team, Bird also helped the United States win five Olympic Gold and four World Championship Gold Medals.

Sylvia Fowles:  From LSU, Fowles was the 2008 SEC Player of the Year and professionally would win two WNBA Titles with the Minnesota Lynx, where she was the Finals MVP in both.  She also won the 2017 WNBA MVP, was an eight-time All-Star, three-time First Team All-WNBA Selection, and would win four Defensive Player of the Year Awards.  Internationally, Fowles helped the U.S. win Gold in four Olympics and one World Championship.

Cappie Pondexter:  Pondexter was the 2006 Big East Player of the Year, and, in the WNBA, would win two Titles with the Phoenix Mercury.  A seven-time All-Star and three-time First Team All-WNBA Selection, Pondexter also owns an Olympic Gold Medal with the United States.

Alana Beard:  Beard was a three-time ACC Player of the Year at Duke and went on to win a WNBA Title with the Los Angeles Sparks.  She was a four-time All-Star and a two-time Defensive Player of the Year.

Lucille Kyvallos was a Head Coach for West Chester State College and Queens College, and Mark Campbell coached Union University.  Danielle Donehew, the Executive Director of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the impending Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame members.

1969 SEMI-FINAL RESULTS:

Thank you for all of your participation in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project. If you are unaware of what that is, we acted like the PFHOF had its first class in January 1946.

We have completed the years up to 1968.

For “1969,” a Preliminary Vote with nearly 100 players whose playing career ended by 1961. We are also following the structure in that players have 20 years of eligibility, and if they do not make it into the Hall, they are relegated to the Senior Pool.

Each voter was asked to select 25 names from the preliminary list, and the top 25 vote-getters were named Semi-Finalists.

A week later, the voters were asked to pick 15 names from the 25 Semi-Finalists, and next week, they will pick five from the remaining 15. We will continue this process weekly until we catch up to the current year.

30 Votes took place, with the top fifteen advancing.

This is for the “Modern Era”

Bold indicates they advanced to the Finals:

This is for the “Senior Era”

*Bold indicates they advanced to the Finals:

We will post the Class of the 1969 Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project next Saturday.

Thank you to all who contributed. If you want to be part of this project, please let us know!