UEFA Champions League final 2018: Real Madrid vs Liverpool promises excitement and goals
LIVERPOOL enter this weekend’s Champions League final as underdogs but with the ability to inflict damage on Real Madrid. So set your alarm for Sunday morning as both teams can win — and the margins could be crazy.
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IT’S the biggest sporting question of the weekend: can Liverpool beat Real Madrid in the Champions League final?
The answer is — yes, of course. But the next question is tougher: how do Liverpool beat Real Madrid?
The UEFA Champions League final is live on SBS from 4am AEST on Sunday 27th May.
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It doesn’t get much bigger than the Champions League final. Only the World Cup final itself attracts more interest. To put that in perspective, the highest rated Super Bowl was 2015, which pulled 114.4 million viewers — that year’s Champions League final claimed 380 million.
The eyes of the world are watching and the pressure is on, particularly for Liverpool — underdogs by rank and experience.
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Although still considered European royalty by right of their five European cups, it’s been a long time between drinks for the men from Merseyside — more than a decade since their last appearance in the final, which they lost 2-1 to AC Milan.
Madrid, by contrast, are in their fourth final in five years, aiming to become the first team to claim three in a row since Bayern Munich back in 1974-76.
The team that will run out at Kiev’s Olimpiyskiy Stadium are virtually unchanged from the ones that claimed the trophy the previous two years. History is one thing — but experience really matters.
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Cristiano Ronaldo has four Champions League winners’ medals by himself (one with Manchester United, three with Madrid) — that’s only one win less than Liverpool as a club.
The Portuguese maestro is now something of a veteran at 33 but although the pace may have faded and the dribbles and step-overs be less consistent, his authority on the field has not waned.
Retooled as a more orthodox striker, Ronaldo’s eye for goal is as deadly as ever, finishing the La Liga season with 26 goals in 38 games.
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Neither has his ability for the amazing diminished — see that breathtaking bicycle kick against Juventus in the quarter-finals.
Madrid boast world-class players all over the pitch, and demonstrated in the semi-final against Bayern Munich that they can handle an all-out attack and still find what is required to come out on top.
But, this season, there ain’t no attack like Liverpool’s attack.
Despite the mismatch in know-how, Madrid are well aware of just how dangerous their opponents are.
Jurgen Klopp’s thrilling side have bagged 46 goals in 14 Champions League matches this season, 20 of which have come away from home.
Ronaldo leads the individual stats with 15 (and three assists) — but right behind him are Liverpool’s front three, with Roberto Firmino (10, seven assists), Mohamed Salah (10 goals, four assists) and Sadio Mane (Nine goals, one assist).
Then there’s the somewhat bizarre stat that unfussy Reds midfielder James Milner has set a new record for the most assists in a single Champions League season (9). The Reds, understandably, have utmost belief in their ability to score goals.
The problem for Liverpool is how their defence stands up to scrutiny. With no real defensive midfielder protecting the back four, their attacking set-up leaves their defence vulnerable, although this has steadied considerably since the arrival of Virgil van Dijk for a world-record fee.
However, neither are Madrid some impenetrable wall of white — Zinedine Zidane’s team finished third in La Liga this season, conceding 44 goals in 38 games — the most of any of Spain’s top-four clubs.
The key for this game, however, appears to lie on the flanks. Both teams rely on their fullbacks — Dani Carvajal and Marcelo for Madrid, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson for Liverpool — to support the attack, thereby creating space to be exploited.
Marcelo was exposed by Bayern Munich in the semis and would appear to be an ideal target for the record-breaking Salah, with the equally dangerous Firmino and Mane just waiting to pounce on the scraps.
Yet the same can be said for Liverpool right back Trent Alexander-Arnold whose inexperience has been a target for pretty much every team they’ve come up against. The 19-year-old’s quality is not in question — but a teenager up against one of the greatest and most experienced attacking players in the world does set Reds’ fans nerves on edge.
This is what makes the final such a tough one to call. Both teams have defensive weaknesses and both have the attacking weapons to exploit those flaws.
Scoring the first goal wouldn’t seem to count for much. In fact, being three goals to the good probably wouldn’t be safe either. Both teams can win — and the margins could be crazy.
It will be a very early start for football fans this Sunday morning — but it’s likely to be one hell of a wake-up call.
Originally published as UEFA Champions League final 2018: Real Madrid vs Liverpool promises excitement and goals
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