Their respective semi-final victories over Manchester City and Bayern Munich meant Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid earned the right to take their famous capital city derby to Milan for one night only.
Here, PA Sport analyses where Saturday’s Champions League final at the San Siro stadium might be won and lost.
Zizou vs El Cholo
• Zinedine Zidane, with his Champions League and World Cup wins, outstripped Diego ‘El Cholo’ Simeone’s trophy haul as a player, although the Argentinian was not unsuccessful as he won the UEFA Cup with Inter and the Copa America twice.
In Serie A meetings between the pair, Lazio and Inter enforcer Simeone trumped Juventus wizard Zidane with a record of four wins, two draws and two defeats with his teams.
The ambitious young coaches have only met once on the touchline, with Antoine Griezmann delivering a 1-0 Atletico victory in Zizou’s first derby as Bernabeu boss.
One is a natural introvert while the other is anything but and both men can lose their tempers – remember Zidane’s headbutt in Berlin and Simeone’s histrionics in Lisbon?
On Saturday, the man who can tame his baser instincts will be better placed to focus his full attention on his players, which will be key to masterminding an historic overseas derby victory.
Will Real Madrid need a eurozone bale-out?
• Okay, okay, it wasn’t Cardiff’s own Galactico, Gareth Bale, who denied Atletico the trophy in Lisbon when there were just seconds on the clock.
Sergio Ramos scored that last-gasp equaliser but it was Bale who spurred Real on to claim a convincing 4-1 victory with his 110th-minute header.
Zidane will hope his men don’t leave it as late this time around but if they need a late injection of madness, Bale could be the key that unlocks a mean Atletico defence.
Five of his goals this season have arrived in the last 10 minutes of games and the pacey Welshman is difficult to contain when others are tiring.
Griez the mann!
• When Atletico faced Real in Lisbon two years ago, Los Rojiblancos boasted two of Europe’s most revered strikers: Diego Costa and David Villa.
Both men have since departed and there were concerns at the Vicente Calderon that Atletico could struggle to emulate their achievements in 2013-14 without their goals.
Griezmann, signed that summer from Real Sociedad, has eased any fears fans might have had.
With 22 goals in each of his two seasons in Madrid, the skilful attacking midfielder is La Liga’s top scorer outside of Barcelona and the Bernabeu and will be Atletico’s most dangerous weapon in Milan.
The man in the middle
• British clubs may have failed to reach the final once again but there will be a Premier League story at San Siro this weekend.
County Durham official Mark Clattenburg is the first man since Howard Webb, who oversaw Inter vs Bayern Munich in 2010, to land the most prestigious appointment in European club football.
Clattenburg drew criticism from Crystal Palace as a result of a few decisions he made in the Eagles’ FA Cup defeat to Manchester United, so fans from both sides of the Spanish capital will be hoping the Englishman might end up giving their heroes the rub of the green.