By Louis Ó hOisin
This Saturday evening at exactly 7:45pm, over 350 million people worldwide will tune in to watch Liverpool take on Real Madrid in the final of club football’s greatest grail, the Champions League.
Both teams have suffered a disappointing season so far with a shot at redemption in this gigantic match. Liverpool, for example, will be glad to see the back of West Brom as they drop to the Championship. After struggling against Johnny Evans and co. over their three matches this season – two points from two and an FA Cup exit later – Liverpool scrape another Champions League spot in spite of the Baggies.
As for Madrid, they have seen their worst season (points-wise) since 2006-07, the worst league season ever at their current club for everyone at Madrid except Zidane and Ramos.
The squad is under-fire for an alleged lack of chemistry and it’s been evident some things aren’t clicking.
Both teams however, despite their otherwise unsuccessful seasons, have shined in this year’s competition, Liverpool notably crushing English champions Manchester City over two legs, and Real Madrid beating German champions Bayern Munich in the semis.
Liverpool fans should be relieved they aren’t facing Bayern though. Many people were surprised at Real’s semi-final result with the domestic form they’ve been in. It all looked so promising for the Munich side, new signings including Mats Hummels and James Rodriguez strengthened the already breathtaking squad, especially with Hummels coming in and teaming up with Boateng, it really brought the balance they needed in defence this year.
The improvements showed too as they retook their dominant position in the Bundesliga, finishing first with a 21-point cushion over 2nd place Schalke. With the remarkable team they have, Bayern were serious contenders to win the Champions League but Real managed to seal a 4-3 win over the two legs with many fingers being pointed at the referee, again.
But Madrid are beatable, and they seem to be more beatable than Bayern at least.
The statistics are there, Madrid’s defence is no doubt shakier than usual.
- Real Madrid haven’t conceded this many goals in a season since 2009
And individually too, the defence is way off last year’s mark. Looking at Marcelo, Carvajal, Ramos and Varane’s stats compared to last season’s are substantially worse. Tackles, interceptions and discipline have all decreased across the board and if they keep it up, Liverpool’s electric attack could prove a serious test.
Of course, for Liverpool fans, talk of a problematic defence is all too familiar. In the Champions League this year the defences have been reasonably equal statistically so we’re guaranteed a good few goals anyway.
Goals aren’t just guaranteed because of leaky rearguards though. They’re going to be a sure-fire byproduct of some of the most lethal attackers in the world.
Overall in the Premier League this season, Liverpool have scored 84 goals, 57 of which coming from their unstoppable front-three of Salah, Mané and Firmino.
Salah led the attack, winning the Premier League Golden Boot this year with his record-breaking 32 goals in 36 appearances. The Egyptian King has said many times that the success of the trio is down to their friendship off the pitch and that they are ‘always looking to play the ball to one another’. Also, many football fans including Thierry Henry will agree that Firmino is the ‘most complete’ striker in the league with the work he does on and off the ball.
As for Madrid, they have scored 94 in La Liga this season. This seems a lot compared to Liverpool’s 84, however, this is the first time in nine years that Los Blancos have not broken the 100-goal mark. Their front-three, Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema have bagged 47 total goals this season, 4 more than last season. Los Blancos centre-mid Isco has also proved a huge threat this year with 7 goals and 7 assists.
The teams seem more equally matched than many may think. The winning factor for Real may be their capability to cope under pressure. As a team they’re obviously more experienced at preforming in major games like this.
Don’t rule out Liverpool though. The current team and, more notably, Klopp have been known to go out with energy and passion to take home a result. With the right mentality both teams can be unbeatable.
Real are the most successful team in this competition, winning it 12 times since it began in 1955. Liverpool are the most successful English team with 5 trophies.
They’ve faced off in a European Cup final once before in 1981, a time where Madrid had to face teams like Limerick in the rounds leading up to the final (Limerick lost 7-2 on aggregate). Liverpool won that final 1-0 at the Parc des Princes through left-back Alan Kennedy. Times clearly have changed since the days where Limerick could score twice against debatably the best team in the world.
Limerick now fail to score against Cobh Ramblers in the Irish League Cup but ignoring that fact, Liverpool will be hoping for a repeat of 1981, with or without Limerick.
