Owen: Euro final too close to call
Owen can’t pick between former clubs Liverpool and Real in CL final
A‘dream’ Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid is so close to call that it could be decided ‘by a toss of a coin’, according to former England striker Michael Owen, who played for both clubs.
Liverpool beat Roma 7-6 on aggregate in Wednesday’s semi-final, a day after Real Madrid had edged Bayern Munich 4-3 on aggregate.
Record 12-time European champions Real, who are a chasing a third straight title, will now take on five-time winners Liverpool in Kiev on May 26.
However, Owen — who was in Dubai yesterday promoting celebrity cryptocurrency firm GCOX at the Future Blockchain Summit at Dubai World Trade Centre — said he couldn’t pick a winner between his two former teams.
“I would go along with the fact that Real Madrid will be most people’s idea of the favourite,” he said.
“But Real won’t have come up against a team like Liverpool. Liverpool are very unique in that they play better in the bigger games.
“It will be a very interesting, but for me it’s a toss of a coin. Real have experience, but the uniqueness of the way Liverpool play just makes me think that anything can happen.
“Either way it’s a dream final for me as they are both my old teams.”
No confusion
Owen, 38, scored 158 goals in 297 appearances across all competitions for Liverpool between 1996 and 2004. He then joined Real Madrid for £8 million, and scored 16 in 45 appearances overall in one season’s stay before returning to England to see out his career with Newcastle, Manchester United and Stoke City.
Despite representing both finalists, he said there was no confusion over who he would be supporting in Kiev.
“Liverpool are my team, I grew up at the club and had been there since I was a little boy. When I look back on my career I see myself as a Liverpool player more so than anyone else, so I’ll be rooting for Liverpool, but it’s a win-win situation for me with it being between the two teams I played for.”
Owen became the first Liverpool player to win the Ballon d’Or in 2001 after winning five titles in a season at Anfield that year. Now he says Mohammad Salah will become the second, provided Liverpool win the Champions League.
“Inevitably the trophies you win at the end of the season count for an awful lot. I was fortunate to win the Ballon d’Or, but if we hadn’t of won five trophies that season I wouldn’t have come into the reckoning,” he recalled of their FA Cup, League Cup, Charity Shield, Uefa Cup and Super Cup quadruple.
“Of course, you’ve got to have had a good season to have won five trophies and in Salah’s case he’s got to a Champions League final and if he does win it then it will strengthen his claim.
“He’s had a remarkable season and he’s done it internationally as well with Egypt going to the World Cup, so he’s done it on both spectrums really, but a Champions League winning medal would certainly strengthen his claim.”
I would go along with the fact that Real Madrid will be most people’s idea of the favourite. But Real won’t have come up against a team like Liverpool. They play better in bigger games.” Michael Owen » Former England striker
Abeaming Jurgen Klopp told his Liverpool side they must go and finish the job in Kiev by winning the Champions League after surviving their Roma scare. Liverpool were beaten 4-2 at Stadio Olimpico, their first defeat in Rome, but advanced 7-6 on aggregate to the final where they will face Real Madrid.
And the Liverpool manager warned the holders that his team will be “on fire” in Ukraine having weathered another Roma recovery in the second leg of the semi-final. Klopp, who re-emerged from the tunnel to celebrate with the 5,000 delirious away fans halfan-hour after the final whistle, admitted his team had suffered and under-performed in the Italian capital. Not that he cared. Having guided Liverpool from the Champions League qualifiers to their eighth European Cup final appearance Klopp insisted his only focus was on ending a run of nearmisses in finals and Real’s hold on the trophy on May 26.
“We were in a League Cup final and didn’t win it,” the Liverpool manager said. “People don’t tell me in the street since then: ‘Thank you for bringing us to the final.’ We were in the Europa League final too. Nobody tells me thank you. I see no trophies after these games. They don’t hang silver medals at Melwood. That’s a pity, but that’s the game. There’s still a job to do.
“Going to a final is really nice but winning is even nicer. We will be ready but it is Real Madrid. You cannot be more experienced in this competition than Real Madrid. I think 80 per cent of their team played all these finals. They are four times in the last five years and still together. They are experienced, we are not, but we will be really on fire.”
Klopp joined his players in prolonged celebrations with the Liverpool supporters at the Stadio Olimpico. He later came back out to continue the revelry alone. He explained: “Seeing all these happy faces is the best thing that football can do. These people followed us all over Europe, come to Anfield, create an exceptional atmosphere, and we all know how big the desire is to come back on the winning track. They had such a big part in the season so far so if they want to see me, they can see me, no problem.”
Big compliment
The Liverpool manager said his team were made to suffer by Roma because they did not capitalise on several counterattacks. “A big compliment for Roma,” added Klopp. “What a performance, what a comeback, what a great football game. In the high-intense moments we had brilliant counterattacks but not enough to finish them. There was a few penalty situations but I didn’t see them back so far. It was first time we were not as good as we can be.
“We came as a qualifier and are now in a final. I’m really happy for the boys, the club, the fans. It’s been a fantastic ride so far; now we go to Kiev, which sounds crazy but it’s the truth. We will go to Kiev.”
Inspired by Klopp’s tactical mastery, Liverpool are ready to launch a new golden era.
If Liverpool beat holders Real in the final in Kiev, they will celebrate the first silverware of Klopp’s three-year reign on the grandest stage of all.
For Klopp, getting his hands on the Champions League trophy would be concrete proof his Red revolution has been worth all the blood, sweat and tears.
And it would be fitting for the 50-year-old German to enjoy a breakthrough moment at the same age as the godfather of the modern Liverpool.
Bill Shankly was also 50 when the first truly iconic manager in Liverpool’s illustrious history served notice he had created a burgeoning dynasty on Merseyside.
Under the Scottish manager, Liverpool became English champions in 1964 after a 17-year gap. Liverpool won the title three times under Shankly and also collected two FA Cups and a Uefa Cup — the club’s first European trophy — as his magnetic personality and fierce will to win fulfilled his dream of turning the club into “a bastion of invincibility”.
Building on the foundations put in place by Shankly, Liverpool went on to dominate Europe for the next decade.
The thought of emulating that generational success at such a historic club lured Klopp — who possesses the same charismatic character as Shankly — to follow in his footsteps at Liverpool in 2015.
Going to a final is really nice but winning is even nicer. We will be ready but it is Real Madrid. You cannot be more experienced in this competition than Real Madrid.” Jurgen Klopp » Liverpool manager