Soccer

Five things to know about the Champions League final

The final of the UEFA Champions League, aka the Super Bowl Minus The Brain Trauma, will be contested in Lisbon on Saturday. It’s the culmination of a months-long tournament among the best soccer clubs in Europe, and it pits a traditional superpower in Spain’s Real Madrid against their upstart city neighbor Atletico Madrid.

Fox will air at 2 p.m., with Gus Johnson on the call (oohhhhh!). Here are five things to know about the match, which is only the biggest annual event on the world sports calendar:

Diego CostaAFP/Getty Images

The rivalry: The Spanish rivals give us the first intracity Champions League final in history. Big brother Real Madrid is vying for its 10th European Cup title — last winning in 2002 with a team that included legends Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Raul and Roberto Carlos. Atletico, having the best season in its history, pulled a massive upset to win Spain’s La Liga earlier this month. “There are no secrets for this game,” Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said. “The two teams know each other well.”

Whoa, baby: Atletico striker Diego Costa flew to Belgrade to receive a special treatment on his ailing thigh. And by special, we mean a topical rub of fluid derived from horse placenta. Because of its cell-repairing powers, or something. Costa, who scored 36 goals this season and is rumored to be transferring to Chelsea in the offseason, was able to practice Friday.

Vogue cover with Cristiano Ronaldo and Irina Shayk

Shayk, rattle and roll: Real Madrid midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo, despite dealing with his own leg injury, will be on the field in his native Portugal in all his electrifying, preening glory. Ronaldo is 1 or 1a (with Lionel Messi) as the best player in the world. When he takes the ball on the wing and makes a long-striding run at the goal … think Kevin Durant on the fast break. Magazines remain fond of Ronaldo and his model girlfriend Irina Shayk.

We like Iker: And a redemption story. Goalkeeper Iker Casillas is the captain of Spain’s vaunted national team — defending its World Cup title this summer — and he won the Champions League with Real Madrid in 2000 and ’02. Yet the 33-year-old veteran was demoted to a part-timer this season, rarely playing in league games. But Casillas has excelled in external competitions including the Champions League, and he has never lost against Atletico.

Bench jockeys: Real Madrid’s coach is Carlo Ancelotti, a well-traveled Italian whose autobiography title is a ham joke: “Preferisco la Coppa.” Coppa like cups, or the cold cut. Atletico’s ascendant manager is Diego Simeone, a ruthless-looking young Argentine, not bad for a sound bite: