Lhe haircut with big ears is passing through the City of Light. And the epilogue of the 67e edition of the Champions League is near. This Saturday evening, the Liverpool Reds face the most successful club in the competition, Real Madrid, at the Stade de France (Saint-Denis) in the C1 final.
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After failing to leave in the round of 16 (against PSG), in the quarters (against Chelsea) and in the semi-finals (against Manchester City), Real Madrid face Liverpool in the Champions League final with the ambition of winning a 14e European coronation. Carried by the dazzling Karim Benzema (44 goals and 15 assists in 45 matches in all competitions), the Merengues, already crowned Spanish champions and winners of the Spanish Super Cup, intend to punctuate in apotheosis a continental adventure full of pitfalls.
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Against Madrid, the Reds – Manchester City’s runners-up in the Premier League – are looking for a resounding hat-trick, after their titles in the League Cup and the FA Cup. To reach the final, Liverpool had first eliminated Inter Milan in the eighth, before leaving Benfica Lisbon in the quarters and sweeping Villarreal in the semi-finals. But a slight advantage to Madrid who benefit from a psychological ascendancy, three years after the final they won (3-1) against Jürgen Klopp’s men. For this shock at the top of European football, the two coaches will be able to count on all their vital forces and Klopp and Ancelotti should thus opt for their traditional 4-3-3.
The teams :
Liverpool : Alisson – Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Konaté, Robertson – Henderson (c), Fabinho, Thiago – Salah, Mané, Luis Diaz.
Real Madrid: Courtois – Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, F.Mendy – Kroos, Casemiro, Modric – Valverde, Benzema (c), Vinicius Junior.