Prime
Real history faces Liverpool revenge
Royal Rumble. Liverpool challenge record winners Real Madrid for soccer’s ultimate club prize in Paris with revenge for the 2018 defeat in mind as Real seek 14th crown.
What you need to know:
- Royal Rumble. Liverpool challenge record winners Real Madrid for soccer’s ultimate club prize in Paris with revenge for the 2018 defeat in mind as Real seek 14th crown.
Dubbed as the greatest stage of club football, the Uefa Champions League comes to a close with a fitting 66th final pitting heavyweights Real Madrid and Liverpool in French capital Paris tonight.
“This is proper European football royalty and it should live up to expectations,” says Fentuo Tahiro, a Ghanaian journalist. “I expect this to be no less dramatic.”
It wasn’t an easy match-up to call however, even if both sides boast of class and a combined 19 titles. La Liga champions Real have pulled a rabbit out of the hat more than once to get here.
Yet, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool have been stellar, going past relatively lighter opponents to reach a third tournament final in five seasons. However, record 13-time winners Real and their manager Carlo Ancelotti are eyeing nothing short of history come the full-time whistle at the Stade de France.
Real’s territory
This is the fifth UCL final in eight years for the Los Blancos and an unprecedented 14th gong is on cards.
“Their reputation and character in the competition is unrivaled,” states another Ghanaian sports presenter Saddick Adams.
Yet Ancelotti could nick some more history. The 62-year-old Italian became the first manager to win all five major European league titles with Real’s 35th this season.
And he could go one ahead of former Liverpool coach Bob Paisley and ex-Real boss Zinedine Zidane to become the most decorated tactician in the history of this championship with four titles. Ancelotti won in 2003 and 2007 with Milan and in 2014 with Real after beating rivals Atletico Madrid 4-1 in extra-time.
His opposite Klopp is into his fourth Champions League final and only searching for a second title. The German boss lost the 2013 final 2-1 while with Borussia Dortmund to Bayern Munich.
In 2018 with Liverpool, he lost 3-1 to Real in Kyiv, Ukraine, but he returned in the final with Kop to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in Madrid the following year.
“Klopp and this men will want to do a revenge over Madrid but the Spanish big guns are a different animal in the Champions League,” Adams states.
After eliminating Villarreal 5-2 on aggregate in the semifinals, Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah was clear he wanted to face Real in the final so they could revenge for defeat of three years ago.
Then, their goalkeeper Loris Karius erred twice while Salah limped with a shoulder dislocation after being dragged down by defender Sergio Ramos. Gareth Bale struck twice while Karim Benzema also made it to the score sheet.
The Reds have been in quest for a quadruple but their plot fell flat after Manchester City came from 2-0 down to beat Aston Villa 3-2 and lift the Premier League title last weekend.
However, they already have the Carabao Cup and FA Cup trophies after beating Chelsea and even if they conceded first in their last four league games, Klopp’s side can turn on the lights early.
“I expect a fast start from Liverpool, as they love to take early leads to force teams to open up so they finish them off with their high intensity transition game,” opines Mark Ssali, corporate affairs head at National Council of Sports.
“Whether they get that early goal or not will determine what pattern the rest of the game takes.”
But Real have been dubbed comeback kings this season. Often, they have been rescued by skipper Karim Benzema.
The 15-goal man has brightened their fortunes with crucial goals against PSG, Chelsea and City with support from Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo or Federico Valverde, the Frenchman can do it again.
Brazilian winger Vinicius could be a big threat to the Liverpool system considering Ancelotti operates him on the left and he will directly face right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, a vital outlet on the offense.
“After the opening salvo in which Liverpool is likely to throw everything at Real, I believe Klopp will ask Trent to sit back a little and pick his moments wisely,” Ssali, a former Daily Monitor sports editor, says.
“If he doesn’t, rest assured that Ancelotti has already instructed his boys to play the ball in behind Trent, and Vinicius would gladly expose the English right-back with his pace and trickery.”
“TAA would need a lot of support from his midfielders covering for him. We saw what Vini did to Fernandinho and even Kyle Walker in those two semi-final games against City,” Tahiro remarks.
The last three titles have gone to German coaches with Hansi Flick winning it for Bayern Munich in 2020 and Thomas Tuchel doing it for Chelsea last season.
“Should Liverpool not score early and allow Real to grow into the game, then the technical qualities of the individuals and group that is Madrid could easily flip this coin,” Ssali adds.
[email protected]
