The Times - UK (2022-05-28)

67th European Cup final could be

decided. It is Vinícius versus

Alexander-Arnold, a game of pace

and space, the Brazilian looking to

attack the area behind the

Englishman. This could be the duel

for the crown.

One of the greatest strengths of

Liverpool’s play — Alexander-Arnold

taking up advanced positions and

passing — has to be tempered by

concern over Vinícius. “We’ve got our

game plan,” Alexander-Arnold said.

“As for Vinícius, he’s an outstanding

player and he’s shown that this season

with his goals and assists. Those

individual battles are part of it, but it’s

a team game.” Liverpool may need to

double up on Vinícius, stopping him

before he accelerates. If Alexander-

Arnold does get caught upfield, and

Vinícius launches one of his lightning

strikes, Liverpool’s right-sided centre

half will need to cover. The indication

that Joel Matip will start is surprising,

given Ibrahima Konaté’s speed.

Many other issues occupy the

attention of the tens of thousands of

Liverpool fans flocking to the French

capital. The newly laid pitch is a

concern, and even taking into account

that the final was moved from Saint

Petersburg, Uefa and the French

organisers should really have planned

this better. A pitch cannot bed in

within 72 hours.

This is the showpiece of the

European season, “the” game of the

campaign, as Alexander-Arnold said,

and two elite, technical teams deserve

the best conditions in which to

express themselves. In Sadio Mané,

Liverpool have the man who could

apply the coup de grâce on the relaid

grass. Real’s focus will be on

Mohamed Salah, as it was infamously

in Kyiv when he was injured early in

Jürgen Klopp has urged Liverpool to

go toe-to-toe with Real Madrid in

tonight’s Champions League final and

insisted that they should not harbour

an inferiority complex against the

13-times winners of the competition.

The Liverpool manager delivered

the rallying call as the future of Sadio

Mané formed a pre-match subplot,

with Bayern Munich continuing to be

linked with the 30-year-old forward.

Real beat Liverpool in the 2018 final

and while Klopp recognised the

Spaniards’ status, he believes that his

own side can consider themselves

equals, especially as they claimed

their seventh Champions League

crown a year later.

“If you look at the history of the

club, the experience of the other

team, if you look at the way Real

Madrid celebrated comebacks [this

season], then I would say that Real

Madrid is the favourite,” Klopp said.

“But, actually, I want us thinking we

‘If we are ourselves,

PAUL JOYCE

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL LOWDOWN

Liverpool v Real Madrid

Stadium Stade de France, Kick-off 8pm,

TV BT Sport 1, YouTube, Radio talkSPORT

Route to the final

Liverpool

Group B

Sep 15 AC Milan (h) W3-2

Sep 28 Porto (a) W5-1

Oct 19 Atletico Madrid (a) W3-2

Nov 3 Atletico Madrid (h) W2-0

Nov 24 Porto (h) W2-0

Dec 7 AC Milan (a) W2-1

Round of 16

Feb 16 Inter Milan (a) W2-0

Mar 8 Inter Milan (h) L1-0

Won 2-1 on aggregate

Quarter-final

Apr 5 Benfica (a) W3-1

Apr 13 Benfica (h) D3-3

Won 6-4 on aggregate

Semi-final

Apr 27 Villarreal (h) W2-0

May 3 Villarreal (a) W3-2

Won 5-2 on aggregate

Real Madrid

Group D

Sep 15 Inter Milan (a) W1-0

Sep 28 Sheriff Tiraspol (h) L2-1

Oct 19 Shakhtar Donetsk (a) W5-0

Nov 3 Shakhtar Donetsk (h) W2-1

Nov 24 Sheriff Tiraspol (a) W3-0

Dec 7 Inter Milan (h) W2-0

Round of 16

Feb 15 Paris Saint-Germain (a) L1-0

Mar 9 Paris Saint-Germain (h) W3-1

Won 3-2 on aggregate

Quarter-final

Apr 6 Chelsea (a) W3-1

Apr 12 Chelsea (h) L2-3 aet

Won 5-4 on aggregate

Semi-final

Apr 26 Man City (a) L4-3

May 4 Man City (h) W3-1 aet

Won 6-5 on aggregate

How European campaigns have compared

Liverpool Real Madrid

45.6%

28.4%

44.6%

50.3%

9.7%

21.3%

Percentage of minutes in the lead

Percentage of minutes level

Percentage of minutes behind

How managers match up

JÜRGEN KLOPP

Age Nationality

21

1

3

9

27

3

4

16

Years as a manager

European Cup wins

European Cup finals

Major trophies

54

CARLO ANCELOTTI

Age Nationality

Years as a manager

European Cup wins

European Cup finals

Major trophies

62

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Average age of likely line-ups

Vinícius Jr

2 1GG Saturday May 28 2022 | the times

thegame

the 2018 final, which Real won 3-1,

but they will also be aware of the

threat of the sinewy Senegalese.

Mané has scored in each of his past

three European starts.

If Alexander-Arnold gets to grips

with Vinícius, and Virgil van Dijk

manages to subdue Benzema, the

feeling will intensify that Liverpool

can win their seventh European Cup.

Despite their disappointment at

failing to catch City in the Premier

League, Liverpool have a momentum

that could be too much for Real.

Klopp introduced some perspective

when responding to a question about

the final being moved to Paris

because of Russia’s invasion of

Ukraine. “That the game still happens

and that it’s not in Saint Petersburg

maybe is exactly the message Russia

should get,” Klopp said. “Life goes on

even when you try to destroy it. We

play this final for all the people, but as

well for the people of Ukraine.”

It’s only a game, and “football is the

most important of the less important

things in the world”, to borrow an old

Ancelotti line, but this matters hugely

to all who are travelling out or tuning

in. If the mood among Klopp’s players

was calm and controlled, Liverpool

fans voyaged hopefully.

Those without tickets will

congregate in the fanzone on Cours

de Vincennes, where the Lightning

Seeds will perform, or head to one of

the many bars showing the game,

such as the Kop bar on Boulevard

Ney, which was noisily living up to its

name yesterday, and the Coq and

Bulldog on Rue de Clichy. They will

back their team passionately tonight,

and wave flags such as “Liverpool FC,

wherever you go, I go”, even if they do

briefly take a turn away from their

landing site. Liverpool to win 2-1.

Liverpool can’t

switch off against

calculating Carlo

HENRY

WINTER

There was a moment yesterday
afternoon when Liverpool fans
tracking the team flight on radar
became concerned as the plane
turned left away from Paris. It then
banked and came back in on its
plotted approach. Liverpool know
their way to a final, especially in the
city of highlights where they won in
1981, and when they take off for home
they again expect to have the
European Cup on board.
It will not be a simple exercise.
Even if Liverpool tear into Real
Madrid, and take a decent lead, they
are very aware that these resilient
Spaniards never know when they are
beaten. They have shown it against
Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and
Manchester City in the knockout
stage. They are tough.
Liverpool fans love Jürgen Klopp’s
“mentality monsters” but Karim
Benzema, Vinícius Jr and Luka
Modric also have character in
abundance. Even if the clock is
running down, Real will still believe
they can get back in it.
Benzema will certainly believe. He
has scored 16 goals against English
opponents in 22 meetings and has 87
goals in 144 European club games. He
has experience and expertise. As does
Real’s head coach, Carlo Ancelotti, a
man who never panics, who raises an
eyebrow but rarely his voice. The
urbane Italian stays calm, draws on
his long experience and makes game-
changing substitutions.
So if Liverpool do get that early
lead, and they are quite capable of
that with their swarming, switching
football, then they have to keep
chasing goals. That, thrillingly, is their
style under Klopp, but it is even more
essential against the streetwise
Benzema, Vinícius and Modric.
A Real fan outside Stade de France
last night, waiting for Ancelotti’s team
to arrive for light training, wore a
“Who needs Mbappé?” T-shirt.
Everyone would love Kylian Mbappé,
the PSG striker, but Real do have
plenty of attacking talent that
Liverpool will respect.
After landing, Liverpool went to the
Stade de France and put their two
irrepressible full backs, Trent
Alexander-Arnold and Andrew
Robertson, up for pre-match media
duties. The pair, as usual, will play
important roles, not least for their
prodigious counterattacking qualities,
but it is vital that they stymie Real’s
threat down the flanks. It’s what
killed off City at the Bernabeu.
Even if the exciting Rodrygo
doesn’t start — Ancelotti is expected
to go with the more solid Federico
Valverde — the Brazilian winger is
sure to come on at some point and
give Real more potency down the
right. It is on the other side where the

Chief Football Writer, Paris

‘PITCH MAY BE PERFECT – BUT IT DOESN’T LOOK IT’

Jürgen Klopp has said

that he would have

happily played the

Champions League

final on a gravel court

after the surface at the

Stade de France was

relaid only 48 hours

before Liverpool’s

game with Real Madrid.

The Paris venue was

chosen to stage

tonight’s game when

Uefa took the final

away from Saint

Petersburg after

Russia’s invasion of

Ukraine. However,

preparations were

complicated by the

stadium hosting a

music concert last

Saturday.

At the start of the

week, 24 refrigerated

lorries transported the

500 bales of grass from

Barcelona and a new

pitch was laid.

Klopp, the Liverpool

manager, said: “Maybe

it’s perfect but it looks

not perfect. I hope no

one makes a story

about ‘Klopp moaning

about the pitch’. I’m fine.

“That someone

thought it was a good

idea to bring the pitch

the day before to the

stadium is an

interesting idea.

“But I am really

happy we are

here, I would

have played on

a pétanque

[court].”