The Champions League final is one of the most awaited moments in world football, so the duel between Liverpool and Real Madrid, which tonight (8pm, TVI) will determine the 67th edition of the UEFA competition, at the Stade de France, is no exception. This time, after the last final, between Chelsea (current European champions) and Manchester City, in Porto, “marked” by the epidemic (covid-19), it was the war in Ukraine that indelibly touches the biggest club competition in Europe.
First of all, the stage changed, with Paris replaced by Saint Petersburg, Russia. At the end of yesterday’s press conference, Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp faced this reality and the German took the opportunity to stress that the fact that the match will be in France is perhaps the right message for Russia to think about, and ends by saying. This final will inevitably be dedicated to the Ukrainian victims.
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UEFA Champions League May 27 2022
Usually alienated from political messages, UEFA has turned the final ball into a statement, creating something unique and then turning it into an object of solidarity.
Despite the context and its importance, football has not been forgotten. We can only evoke the past of the finalists, as the English face the specter of Kyiv, as Real Madrid defeated Zidane (and Cristiano Ronaldo) (3-1)”redBy Klopp, four years ago.
However, Liverpool immediately reached the title, sixth the following year, although it was the 2018 final movie (with Mohamed Salah injured and Loris Karius’ bad day) that Jurgen Klopp recovered to mobilize the English side. It appears reinforced with Thiago Alcantara and Fabinho, the duo who have been in doubt. Alcantara will have overcome the discomfort of his Achilles tendon, in the match with Wolverhampton, with Fabinho returning after an absence in the last three games, with a sprain. Both mingled, making good sense for Klopp, who seemed ‘excited’ by his ‘ability to feel the atmosphere of the stadium’ chosen by the organisation, which raised logistical questions. Giving the Stade de France a new chance on the eve of the final raises legitimate doubts.
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UEFA Champions League May 27 2022
“There was a bit of a rush to get the pitch ready for the final. It’s always good news when the grass looks new. In this case, it’s different, because one day… someone thought it was a good idea to put in new ground on the eve of the final,” said Klopp, who did not He could resist passing the ball to the Spaniards, which gave them a slight advantage given Real Madrid’s great experience in the Champions League finals, “It doesn’t affect my mood, but it’s an interesting choice.” in the past nine years.”
Jurgen Klopp unleashed some emotional charge by giving Real Madrid a new layer of favour, given the way the Spaniards outdone themselves to overturn qualifiers against Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City, wanting to be on par in the genre. of positions.
“We have to be like ourselves, confident. And if we can do that, and play at our best level, then we are facing a difficult opponent,” he warned, as evidenced by the numbers of the season in which he lost three times in 62 matches (with Inter Milan, in the Champions, And with West Ham and Leicester in the English Premier League). “You have to learn to win. What happened in 2018 was important, but winning the title in 2019 was even more important.”
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UEFA Champions League May 27 2022
Ancelotti’s farm
Certainly with the support of a large part of the city of Liverpool, where he led Everton between 2019 and 2021, Carlo Ancelotti reached his fifth Champions League final, and the second with Real Madrid. The winner of three of the four who have already played – the first 20 years, by Milan (who scored two goals, in 2007), and the last in 2014, in Lisbon, the famous “record” of Real Madrid – the Italian coach guarantees who will not ask Benzema and his companions playing badly…
“Interestingly, the final match in which my team played better was the only one that I lost,” he recalls, referring to the 2005 match in Istanbul, which Liverpool (Spain Rafael Benitez) won on penalties, after a great comeback against Milan who returned to the booth. 3-0 victory in the first half and witnessed “red“Getting parity in the second half.
But tonight, with the exception of Carlo Ancelotti, all the heroes will be different. The weight of history will always be secondary, so Real Madrid, champions of Spain in 2021-22, will have to “prepare to give the best”, even if Ancelotti knows that winning is not always enough.