Real Madrid’s love affair with the UEFA Champions League seems to show no signs of dissipating but there’s another paramour on the block who dares stake a claim to the biggest prize in club football: Liverpool.
The scenic NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium (which can seat 70,000) in Kiev, Ukraine is the venue for the 2018 Champions League final and regardless of who gets to take home ‘Big Ears’, Saturday’s showdown promises to be one for the ages.
Zinedine Zidane’s men, despite having to run through a daunting gauntlet, haven’t gone out of second gear all season yet find themselves on the verge of an unprecedented hat-trick of Champions League titles.
Standing in Los Blancos’ path is a Liverpool side that may be lacking in experience, but has more than made up for it with effortless attacking verve to reach their first final in over a decade.
To whom will go the spoils?
The smart money would be on Real scooping their 13th title, but Jurgen Klopp’s are the epitome of unpredictability and truly, anything can happen in a cup final.
Real Madrid
Zidane stated at the start of the week that he knows his starting XI, but who will get the nod up in Kiev is anybody’s guess.
Isco, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio are battling it out for two spots and judging by Zidane’s past choices, it seems like Cristiano Ronaldo will be lining up alongside Real’s No.9 and No.22 in Kiev.
Casemiro is set to start alongside Toni Kroos and Luka Modric in midfield and the trio face perhaps their stiffest test till date as they will have to throttle the supply to Liverpool’s terrific attack trio.
For Real’s defence may have some big names in Marcelo and Sergio Ramos, but their buccaneering tendencies do leave holes at the back, something Liverpool’s on-song forwards will not require an invitation to exploit.
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As always, the onus will be on CR7 to fire Los Blancos to yet another title, but it would be foolhardy to forget the threat that Marco Asensio, Lucas Vazquez and Gareth Bale posses, especially if they come off the bench against tiring legs in the second-half.
It’s easy to forget that while Zidane has done a remarkable job in guiding Real to three finals in as many years, a trophy-less season might just prove to be the death knell for him and ‘Zizou’ won’t need to remind his troops of the stakes at play here.
Talking corner “These finals are always special occasions. We need to respect Liverpool. They deserve their place in the final. They remind me of the Real Madrid of days gone by, with fast, pacey forwards. I think we are better, but of course you always have to respect your rivals” Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo
Injury concerns: N/A
Likely starting XI: (4-3-1-2) Keylor Navas, Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane, Luka Modric, Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Isco, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
Liverpool
The good news for Liverpool is that James Milner and Emre Can seem to have shrugged off their respective injuries to feature alongside Jordan Henderson in the middle of the park.
The bad is that their defence is more porous than Real’s for the Dejan Lovren-Virgil van Dijk partnership doesn’t exactly install confidence.
Yes, the towering Dutchman has shored up their backline since his arrival in January but the semi-final win over Roma showed just how inadequate some of his colleagues can be at times.
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The jury’s still out on Loris Karius and while the young Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold have come into their own this season, they have been a bit wobbly of late.
Up front, there’s little that hasn’t been said about their free scoring attack triumvirate already.
Mohamed Salah may be the crown jewel, but Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino have arguably been just as crucial in Liverpool’s barnstorming run to the final.
Having said that, Liverpool are still without a trophy since Jurgen Klopp took over and the German tactician will be asked uncomfortable questions should they stumble at the final hurdle yet again in his reign.
It’s very much a 50-50 final, so can Liverpool end their trophy drought in style by wrapping up their sixth Champions League title?
Talking corner “We are a fantastic team with some great players (and) a world-class manager, so we want to create our history by winning trophies – and that’s what you get judged on at the end of the day, being successful” Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson (www.liverpoolfc.com)
Injury concerns: Emre Can (back), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (knee), James Milner (hamstring), Joe Gomez (ankle), Joel Matip (hamstring)
Likely starting XI: (4-3-3) Loris Karius, Andy Robertson, Dejan Lovren, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Emre Can, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah.