Lothar Matthaus tips Liverpool to win the Champions League

FFT’S columnist played in Europe’s biggest games and knows what it takes to reach a major final. As this year’s Champions League knockout stages begin, he outlines the pitfalls to avoid – and tips Liverpool to win it

There’s so much pressure when you play big matches in Europe. You must focus from the first minute to the last, because the smallest mistake can make the difference. You can be the best team in Europe but one bad day will kill your dream, at the last moment sometimes – it happened to me twice in Champions League finals, in 1987 and especially in 1999, against Manchester United. We didn’t focus in the last few minutes. You lose everything that you worked so hard for all season.

Sometimes luck goes against you. Other times, it can be a decision by the referee. But losing control in those situations won’t help you. I saw that in our 1987 semi-final against Real Madrid.

I scored a penalty to put Bayern 2-0 up at the Olympiastadion and Real Madrid’s players were really angry about the decision. I didn’t understand why they were so angry – how many times have Real Madrid been given penalties at the Bernabeu that weren’t exactly clear? The Bernabeu was always one of the toughest places to play, as you were playing against a very good team but also against the referee. Last season we saw the controversial penalty against Juventus – Real Madrid wouldn’t have got that penalty in Turin. The crowd get into the referee’s head. When the penalty decision went against Real Madrid in 1987, they lost control, and that’s why they lost the semi-final. They started to commit a lot of fouls – and not normal fouls. They were angry with the referee and wanted to give our players something back.

I went in for a tackle and, sure, maybe it was a foul on my part. But in that moment Juanito completely lost control. He stamped on my body, then on my head.

At the time, I was on the ground and didn’t realise what was happening. When I saw it on TV afterwards, I was happy I was still alive, because he really could have killed me. Three months later he wrote me a letter, saying, “I’m so sorry – that wasn’t me. I lost control. I hope you can forgive me.” I forgave him.

We won that match 4-1 and reached the final, when we lost 2-1 to Porto. Twelve years later, we beat Dynamo Kiev in the semi-final. Andriy Shevchenko was playing for Dynamo, but we won because we had high-quality players and so many leaders – Oliver Kahn, Stefan Effenberg, myself, Giovane Elber, Mehmet Scholl... it was one of the best Bayern Munich teams ever. We were 2-0 down in Kiev, but we never gave up. We had players who could change a game, not only because they could score but because they could motivate their team-mates.

Sometimes we faced teams we didn’t know. In 1993 we played Norwich City in the UEFA Cup, and we didn’t know anything about them. We knew they were English, but nothing about the players, the coach or their tactics. They were physically very strong and they surprised us, because they attacked at the Olympiastadion and won 2-1.

Now, everyone knows every team, but it may be more difficult to become European champions because the top leagues have three or four teams in the Champions League, not just one.

Liverpool have been my favourites this year from the start, and I don’t like to change my mind. After reaching last year’s final, they’re ready to win it. They have the most complete team. Playing Bayern won’t be easy, though. They do have more quality than Bayern right now, but Liverpool lost all three group games away – that’ll give Bayern hope. Tottenham will find it harder against Borussia Dortmund than they did last season, as Dortmund have a different coach and a different mentality now. They’re playing very well, and Jadon Sancho has been one of the best players in the Bundesliga this season. We’re very happy to have a player like him in our league.

I remember the first time I saw him play, for England against Norway in the European Under-17 Championship two years ago. I was watching TV while running in the gym, but after 15 minutes I stopped running; it was the first time I’ve stopped my training session. In those 15 minutes he had made an assist and done so many good things. I was fascinated, so I called someone and asked, “Who is this player?” I was told he played for Manchester City. For them to sell a player like that for only £8m, I think Manchester City and Pep Guardiola are probably a little bit upset now.

“In 1993 WE DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT NORWICH – JUST THAT THEY WERE ENGLISH. THEY SURPRISED US BY ATTACKING AT THE OLYMPIASTADION”