Friday, May 27, 2022

UCL Final - Lucky Madrid on the way of Liverpool

The Kops and their fans must have given a huge sigh of relief when Real Madrid qualified for the final at the expense of Man City. Unless you believe, like a few, that there is an invisible hand helping Real in the UCL, there is every reason for Liverpool to rejoice meeting their opponents in this year's final; they have limped their way to this stage of the competition.

Real were oh-so-lucky to beat PSG in the last 16 stage. They were outgunned again against Chelsea but got unbelievably lucky to make it to the semi-finals. They should have been blown away by Man City but managed to find the goals at the right time to get to the final. Was that lucky or plucky, as I read somewhere? Probably both, but more so the first one. This team is certainly not as good as in the Christiano Ronaldo days but they are now being carried almost single-handedly by Karim Benzema. The Reds need to shutter the Frenchman to extinguish any hopes Real might have of winning.

Were it not for Man City, Liverpool might be contemplating an amazing quadruple. Klopp deserves his manager of the year award. By all regards, this Liverpool squad is possibly their best ever. I thought they would slip somehow late in the season but their depth has pulled them through. They are a hard team to beat. Mane and Salah aren't feeling the effects of their African Cup stint and still scoring important goals. Particularly Mane has scored so many match-winning goals that he has to be a leading contender for the Ballon d'Or. This Liverpool team should beat Real but on a given day, anything can happen. Jitters can hamper players, Real can get lucky (again). But if all is fair and square, the Kops should be the ones celebrating at the end.

Win: Liverpool

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