Kiev: Predictions are a mug’s game in any sport. But that rarely staves off the temptation. Keeping that it mind one can safely predict that a classic is on the cards when Real Madrid face Liverpool in the final of the Champions League at the Olympic Stadium here Saturday.
The attacking talent on display from both the sides has the prowess to make it an edge-of-the-seat thriller. Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid leads the pack with 15 goals in this season’s Champions League. But then Liverpool has scored the maximum number of goals (46) in the tournament so far with the terrific trio of Mohamed Salah (11), Roberto Firmino (10) and Sadio Mane (nine) getting the lion’s share. It will be tough times for defenders of both the sides, no doubt about that.
In terms of history alone, this is a dream final. Real’s 12 European Cup wins puts them way ahead of the rest, but Liverpool have lifted the famous trophy five times themselves, most recently in 2005, defying all the odds against AC Milan in Istanbul.
This time, under Klopp, their adventure started against Hoffenheim in the play-offs last August, on through stunning wins over Manchester City and Roma via a 3-3 draw in Seville when they had been three goals up.
“If we win the competition then the road to Kiev plus the final would be one of the most exceptional rides ever,” Klopp was quoted as saying by Liverpool’s website. “So far, it was just outstanding. But we want it to remain for one more game.”
Experience means his team have to be the outsiders in Kiev – none of the players in the team have ever played a final before – but Klopp knows Zinedine Zidane’s side cannot simply dismiss them.
“Do Real Madrid, sitting in Madrid at the moment, think, ‘thank God it’s Liverpool!’? I can’t imagine that. Zidane does not underestimate any opposition,” added the coach, who has welcomed Emre Can back into his squad.
Zidane, meanwhile, is on the brink of a third straight Champions League win as a coach. “We have already made history and we want to keep on doing it. It would be incredible and the coach has been incredible too,” defender Raphael Varane told Madrid sports daily ‘Marca’. “I still don’t think we have realised the scale of what we are doing, but when all this is over we will. Through experience we know how difficult it is going to be, but experience gives more security and serenity as well.”