On May 28th, Liverpool and Real Madrid will take the field for the most illustrious event in all of sports: the Champions League Final. This is a rematch of the 2018 final, which Real Madrid won, thanks to goals from Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema. It’s also the game, where Sergio Ramos basically broke Mo Salah’s arm. With that being said, there is a lot of bad blood between these two sides.
Both teams are evenly matched heading into the game. Liverpool are coming off a tough 2 legs against Villareal and Real Madrid just came off of one of the greatest comebacks in Champions League history. Now, let’s get into the game preview.
KEY PLAYERS:
Liverpool: Luis Diaz
Having joined the Reds in the January Transfer Window, Diaz has lit it up. His explosiveness and speed have caused massive problems against Liverpool’s opponents and his finishing is lethal. Mo Salah will probably be the Mo Salah he normally is, but Real is good enough to keep him in check. If Diaz is able to penetrate through the Real Madrid backline, it might be enough to keep Liverpool in the game.
Real Madrid: Vinicius Jr.
The easy answer to this is Karim Benzema, who is having a season to go down in the history books. But I’m going with Vinicius Jr. The matchup between him and Trent Alexander-Arnold will largely contribute to the winner of this match. Vinicius has the speed and pace to run past anyone on Liverpool, but the question for me is if he will be able to handle playing against Virgil van Dijk. If Vinicius can run past Alexander-Arnold and catch him sleeping, Real will be able to capitalize on the chance. But if Vinicius cannot handle Alexander-Arnold going forward and is not able to track back, then the game largely favors the Reds.
HOW TO WIN
Liverpool: High press
Liverpool have shown this year that they can play with any team on the planet. They did that with a constricting high press that locked their opponents into their own half. For anyone that doesn’t know, this is called gegenpressing. In the second leg of their semifinals, Real Madrid were, at times, trapped in their own half due to some moments of high press from Man City. If Liverpool can successfully trap Real, then they minimize the damage Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr. can do.
Real Madrid: Counter
With Liverpool’s high press and high line, they are susceptible to getting countered by Real Madrid. Especially on Real’s left side, with Vinicius Jr. , they will be able to catch out Trent Alexander-Arnold attacking, leaving much room to run for the Real wingers. If Karim Benzema can finish the one or two good chances he will get, then Real Madrid will have an extremely good chance of winning.
MY PREDICTION:
This game could honestly go either way. Liverpool is probably have the better team but Real Madrid have shown that they can beat anyone, even if their team isn’t as good as the opposition. I predict that Liverpool won’t be able to stop the blistering counter attacks of Real Madrid, and while they will score a goal from Luis Diaz, it won’t be enough to stop a Karim Benzema goal, combined with a Vinicius Jr. double.
Final Score Prediction:
Real Madrid: 3 – Liverpool: 1
