Final pairing that whets the appetite
IF THE upcoming meeting of Real Madrid and Liverpool in the Champions League final doesn’t get you excited, your fondness for the beautiful game would have to be seriously questioned.
There’s been an absolute abundance of attacking flair on show in this season’s competition, with the two finalists to the forefront of that wonderfully positive approach.
Given what’s gone before you couldn’t expect the showpiece in Kiev at the end of the month to be anything else but a case of both teams taking to the field with a ‘if you score three, we’ll score four’ attitude, which should make for a pulsating final.
Neither side have come within an ass’s roar of winning their own domestic leagues, but both are more than capable of beating anyone on their day.
Twelve-times winners Real Madrid, who are going for three-ina-row, struggled at times in their quarter-final and semi-final against Juventus and Bayern Munich respectively, but somehow they still managed to find a way.
Shining star Cristiano Ronaldo was kept quieter than a monk who has taken a vow of silence against the German champions, but again they still got the job done.
That augurs well for the kings of Europe; having been far from their best, they still had the know-how and wherewhital and admittedly an element of luck to prevail.
Those who believe in fate and that matters are mysteriously written in the stars could argue that Real’s name seems to be already inscribed on the silverware, but Liverpool fans will point to prophetic white feathers of their own to signal why England’s most decorated club in Europe can climb back to the top of the continental tree.
Despite the odd frantic moment or two, Liverpool’s 7-6 semi-final win over Roma was far more comfortable that the aggregate score would suggest. The Italians may have plundered a couple of late goals to get the sweat flowing from the long-suffering Liverpool supporters, but from a neutral’s perspective it was always clear they were going to get over the line despite a stuttering finish.
After sealing their place in the final, Jurgen Klopp and his players have defiantly expressed that the Spanish giants hold no fear for them, and who could blame them having scored a whopping 46 goals in this season’s competition.
Klopp may have lost his previous two finals with Liverpool in the League Cup and Europa League, and his past five deciders in total, but past disappointments will have no bearing on his battle with Zinedine Zidane and co. and they definitely have the tools to unlock a Real Madrid defence, that at times this season has been shakier than a willow in a windstorm.
Mo Salah, like Ronaldo, can produce a bit of magic from nowhere to turn the tie in Liverpool’s favour, but what they probably do lack is somebody that can give them the kick in the arse that’s required to drag them over the line when the chips are down.
Sergio Ramos has done it time and time again for Real, most notably in the 2014 final against Atletico Madrid, and despite his questionable disciplinary record, the Spanish defender is sure to offer that leadership when he’s needed most again.
Steven Gerrard famously did it for the Reds against AC Milan in Istanbul in 2005, but do they have the personalities now to pull the game out of the fire if the tide is turning against them?
If Liverpool can get their noses in front and begin to play with their customary eye-catching swagger they could be hard to peg back, even by a side of the calibre of Real Madrid, however if it turns into a dogfight they could be found wanting against a team that has made this competition their own.
Madrid are the old dogs for the hard road and are playing their fourth final in Europe’s elite competition in five years, while Liverpool are competing in their first in eleven, so simple logic should dictate that the Spanish side should be too streetwise for their opponents.
However, when you look at what has happened already in this season’s competition, all logic goes out the window and whoever wants it most on the night will prevail.
I’ll be picking splinters from my behind for the next hour or so from all this sitting on the fence, but one thing’s for sure: on May 26 all our posteriors will be teetering on the edge of our seats.