Liverpool face Real Madrid tomorrow night in the final of the Champions League in Paris. The Reds have won the trophy 6 times while Real have won it a record 13 times. The 2018 final was contested by the two teams and the Spaniards won 3-1 but who will emerge victorious this time? Gulf News experts preview what should be a fascinating battle…
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NewsTranscript
00:00It is the Champions League final tomorrow. Liverpool
00:03are facing Real Madrid in the final in Paris.
00:07Kick-off at UAE time is, I think, 11 o'clock tomorrow. It's going to be an incredible game.
00:20Hello and welcome to Golf News Kicking Back. It is the Champions League final tomorrow. Liverpool
00:26are facing Real Madrid in the final in Paris. Kick-off at UAE time is, I think, 11 o'clock
00:32tomorrow. It's going to be an incredible game. Liverpool, as we all know, have won the Champions
00:38League six times, but Real Madrid have won it 13 times. That's a record. It could be 14 tomorrow.
00:45The last time these two teams played was in 2018 and Real Madrid won that final 3-1.
00:52Both teams are chasing three trophies this season. Liverpool, unfortunately for them,
00:57missed out on the quadruple on the last day of the season in the Premier League after Man City
01:02held onto that first place by beating Aston Villa. The quadruple might be gone,
01:07but the treble is still there. I'm joined by Sahil. Sahil, can they do it tomorrow?
01:11Who's going to win tomorrow? You want me to go straight
01:16off with a prediction? Then I'm going to have to say Liverpool. Look, the only reason I'm saying
01:23Liverpool is look at that team. I get it. Real Madrid have done wonders this Champions League,
01:28comebacks, everything. What they did against Chelsea, what they did against PSG.
01:34They have done their bit. Real Madrid are the Champions League kings. They have that mentality.
01:39But if you see Liverpool on paper, they have been outstanding. They have won two penalty
01:42shoots, both against Chelsea in the domestic cup. Yes, unfortunately, they lost the Premier League
01:47on the final day after some Man City brilliance. But they have, mind you, Liverpool also have won
01:53a Champions League recently. So I'm going to give it to Liverpool and they deserve it, surely.
01:59It'll be an incredible achievement if they can do it. Obviously, they'll be feeling really
02:03disappointed by losing out on that Premier League title on the last day of the season,
02:08having pushed Man City all the way. I mean, just to think that they could have done a quadruple.
02:13How good is that team? How good is Jurgen Klopp? I mean, I also think that they're going to win
02:17tomorrow. But what is it about Liverpool that I just, you know, putting them so much better than
02:22so many other teams? You know, you know, you talked about Jurgen Klopp. This guy has transformed
02:28Liverpool. Yes, it took a few years. You know, he came in in 2015, replacing Brendan Rodgers. He had
02:34the most average squad. And now you look at 20, you come to the 2017-18 season. He bought Salah.
02:41He got Mane in 2016. He got Salah in 2017. He transformed Firmino into an unbelievable striker.
02:48Like people say, Roberto Firmino can do everything. He transformed. Then he got in
02:52Alexander-Arnold. He bought Robertson from Hull City. Then he got the man, the major man, Van Dijk.
02:58So it's all about the recruitment, what Liverpool have done, what Klopp has done. What Man United
03:03have missed out is recruitment. Their recruitment is absolutely poor. And what you see Liverpool
03:07is their recruitment plan. That's worked for them. And that's why they are here today.
03:12The recruitment you're right has been spot on. And at the same time, you've got a manager like
03:16Jurgen Klopp, who probably right now is the best in the world. I know Guardiola has won the title,
03:20but if you look at what Klopp has achieved in the time he's been there, and actually in Germany,
03:24what he did there as well, I think definitely the players just love playing for Jurgen Klopp. He
03:29comes across as such a good guy anyway. And I'm saying that as an Everton fan, as you can see,
03:32I've got the Everton shirts out there. But like you say, I also think Liverpool are going to win.
03:37But Real Madrid are going to give them a real good game. On one hand, on one side of the pitch,
03:42they've got Courtois, who's stopping everything. He's brilliant in goal. And on the other side,
03:45they've got Benzema, who's scoring for fun. And obviously, Ancelotti on the touchline,
03:50pulling those strings. He knows how to win big titles. This could be probably the best game of
03:56all time. How good do you think the games are going to be tomorrow?
03:58Oh, like you said, it's going to be a killer game. Courtois saving
04:02shots and Benzema up front. Real Madrid are dangerous, no doubt. Vinicius Jr's best ever
04:07season. It's going to be an unbelievable game. Obviously, on paper, we have to say Liverpool
04:12are much, much stronger, given how they have the best centre-back in the world. Their front three,
04:18you know, Diaz has come in, Xhota is in form. You never know if Firmino might start. You know,
04:23Liverpool nowadays, Klopp's taking decisions to drop Mo Salah. That's a big deal, right?
04:28Nowadays, Mo Salah sometimes dropped on the bench. But obviously, I can see him start tomorrow,
04:32there's no doubt. Maybe Diaz might have to drop to the bench. So, it's going to be one killer of
04:37a game. You know, I wanted to say one point, Imran. You know, Ancelotti announced that Bale
04:43and Hazard are also fit for the Champions League final. So, they'll also be in the squad, the two
04:48veterans, the two people who have won everything. So, it's going to be interesting.
04:53It's going to be very interesting. You're right, the guys that you've mentioned there. But if
04:56you're right, if those two guys have a say, like Bale did in the 2018 final, it could be an
05:02unbelievable game. For Liverpool, I think Fabinho should be fit. They've missed him for the last
05:06couple of games. Thiago should be fit. For Real Madrid, I think I believe Alaba could be back.
05:11So, I think it looks like both teams could be, yeah, they could be full strength tomorrow.
05:16Where do you think the key battle is going to lie? Do you think Van Dijk, if he nullifies
05:20Benzema's threat, it could be Liverpool's title tomorrow? I mean, there's no doubt about Van Dijk.
05:25He can handle anybody on any given day. He's done it against the big guns. He's done it against
05:30Ronaldo. He's done it against Messi. Why can't he do it against Benzema? So, I'm definitely
05:34backing Van Dijk to be a big, strong threshold in that Liverpool team tomorrow. And on Saturday,
05:40against Vinicius, maybe if Rodrigo starts, he's going to be the thunderbolt for Liverpool. For
05:46sure, he's going to be the main man. He's going to have to play such an important role tomorrow.
05:52When you look at what Real Madrid have achieved this season, you just mentioned it earlier on
05:55about their comebacks. They've been absolutely incredible. They won their group. They won the
05:59group. That was fine. But then they played the PSG first, and they won that, I think, 5-4 in
06:04aggregate. Something crazy after losing that game. Then they played Man City, and they won that 6-5
06:09after losing really heavily. They played Chelsea, who are the champions, of course, of Europe. They
06:14beat them as well, coming back. I mean, this team just doesn't know when it's beaten, does it?
06:19No, absolutely. These last three games, what they played in the Champions League, PSG,
06:24Chelsea, Man City, it's all about comebacks. Every match is a comeback for them. Against Chelsea,
06:30they were leading. Then they were 3-0 down. Then they still came back. So it's that Angelotti
06:35mentality and all that Real Madrid mentality. So it's going to be tough for both teams. There's no
06:42natural winner. It's going to be tough. But obviously, I'm backing Liverpool.
06:46It's going to be really tough. You're right. Both the mentalities is absolutely incredible.
06:50Angelotti knows how to do it, Klopp as well. But I mean, just PSG's record this season is just
06:54unbelievable. But if you remember the 2018 final, Mo Salah, in particular, is going to be looking
07:00for revenge, isn't he? How important will he be if he starts tomorrow?
07:04Of course, it's Mo Salah. He's the main man for Liverpool up front, no doubt. Yes, in the last
07:10few games of the Premier League, he was a bit silent. He scored in the final day. He scored
07:14two against Man United at Anfield. He still is the main man, no matter what. And yes, after he
07:21put a tweet that there's a score to settle against Real Madrid, which I don't think he should have
07:25put, but I'm sure he didn't mean it in a bad way. It's Mo Salah. He's one of the nicest blokes you'll
07:30see in football. But inside, I know that he's looking for revenge. He's looking for revenge,
07:36for sure. All right, Sal. I think we'll leave it there. It's going to be a fantastic game.
07:39We'll be back to discuss the result on Sunday. So enjoy the match tomorrow. That's all from us.
07:45Head down to golfnews.com for the latest news, reviews, videos,
07:48and we'll be back again soon. Thanks, Ahil. Thank you. Take care.