Thursday, May 24, 2018

UCL Final 2018

Before the superstars even take to the park, the outcome of the match will likely be decided by the clipboard stratagems of a pair of elite managers.

It was hard to imagine how Zinedine Zidane could come remotely close to replicating the success of his incredible playing career after being reborn as a top-tier manager, even after he was handed the keys to football’s most influential, financially steadfast and star-studded juggernaut.

The following night, Liverpool set up a repeat of their 1981 meeting against Real despite a first Champions League defeat of the season at the Stadio Olimpico.

A chaotic 4-2 semi-final second leg loss to Roma saw Liverpool progress 7-6 on aggregate, with victory secured thanks to Sadio Mane's 19th of the season and the rare sight of Georginio Wijnaldum's first away goal in almost three years.

A fortuitous own goal by James Milner inbetween had put the hosts back in the game, while Edin Dzeko's strike shortly after half-time ensured the Reds endured a testing conclusion and two late goals for Radja Nainngolan - including a penalty with the last kick of the game - came too late for Roma.

However, should he steer Los Blancos to an unprecedented third straight title, he would enter rarefied air.

Standing in his way is Reds boss Jurgen Klopp. The cool German is on the verge of restoring one of football’s sleeping giants to the unstoppable force that yielded five previous European Cup titles.

Liverpool haven’t been in a Champions League final for 11 years — in fact this is their first campaign in the competition since 2014-15 when they were unceremoniously dumped out.

Coincidentally that ill-fated stint at Europe’s top table saw the Merseysiders dispatched by a merciless Real in the most recent meetings between the sides – including an embarrassing 3-0 loss.

Klopp will be tasked with masterminding a monumental upset on May 27 (AEST) but his record in such occasions won’t fill Reds fans with confidence.

The tactician has failed to achieve victory in any of his last five finals, including a 2013 loss to Bayern Munich in this tournament while in charge of Borussia Dortmund.

Maybe they weren’t as good as we’d thought? Chalk it up to early season struggles? Maybe they were just being complacent against inferior teams? Whatever the reasoning, Real Madrid found themselves down in 8th place after an early defeat to Real Betis.

The trend continued as they dropped points against Girona, Bilbao, Celta Vigo, and Villarreal. They were eliminated from the Copa del Rey by lowly Leganes, and even lost to Tottenham in the group stage, causing them to finish in second place and draw PSG in the Round of 16.

Questions and rumors began popping up about the security of Zinedine Zidane’s job, and the idea of a three-peat seemed more like a pipe dream than a tangible possibility.

But Real Madrid are just a different beast in the Champions League. Something about the big stage brings out the best in them, and this season was no different. After coming in as underdogs against both PSG and Juventus, Real showed the world that this was still the same side that had dominated Europe for the past 4 years.

But, according to Jordan Henderson, the seeds for an astounding cup run were sewn following a Europa League final defeat two years ago in the shape of a rousing Klopp oration.

“We were obviously down but when we got back to the hotel the manager had something different to stay,” he said.

“He looked at the bigger picture and the future and he felt as though it could be a big moment in our careers to learn from the experience.

“He had this sort of vision that made me think in the future we’d get to another final.

“He wanted to use the experience of that final to keep us together and use it as a positive. If we got to another final we’d be ready.”