Liverpool’s Luis Diaz talked about the Real Madrid players that he’s worried about for Saturday’s Champions League final. Los Blancos boast some world-class stars.
Liverpool will take on Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League final on Saturday. It’s a repeat of the 2018 final, of course, and strangely, an exact repeat of the 1981 final.
The Reds lost in Kiev four years ago but triumphed the last time these two teams met in Paris – Alan Kennedy scored in a 1-0 win. Both teams boast positive history for this one, then.
But this will be a very different game. It’ll be different to just four years ago, in fact, as Liverpool are a much stronger side since then. They’ve added better players, are far more experienced, and arguably go into the game as favourites.
Real aren’t quite the same, either. Legends like Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos are no longer there, while the manager is also a change. It’s Carlo Ancelotti this time, not Zinedine Zidane. Liverpool have their own Champions League history with the Italian, of course.
Make no mistake, though – this is a fantastically strong Real Madrid side. Luis Diaz certainly recognises that and he discussed Los Blancos for the Colombian edition of Marca.
Luis Diaz on the Real Madrid players
“We know how big Real Madrid are and the great team that it is, the experience they have,” said Diaz. “But we also have a great squad and we are going to counteract what they are going to do “.
They then asked Diaz for Real Madrid players Liverpool have to watch out for. “Karim [Benzema], Vinícius and Toni Kroos,” he replied.
We’d swap out Kroos for Luka Modric but that’s splitting hairds. The fact is, Liverpool need to watch out for Real’s incredible play in midfield, the pace of Vinicius on the wing and just about everything Benzema does.
It’s far easier said than done but figure out how to stop those three things and you nullify this Real team. That’ll be the defensive gameplan for Liverpool.
They’ll press hard in midfield, cover space behind Trent Alexander-Arnold and use Fabinho to shut off passes into Benzema. Again, easier said than done.
But performing the near-impossible is how you deliver the Champions League trophy. We’ve seen Real do it repeatedly in the knockout stages this year and Liverpool must believe that they can do the same on Saturday.
Play this one right tactically and the Reds should take the trophy home.