Liverpool head into Saturday’s Champions League final on the back of one of the most relentlessly successful seasons in history. They won the League Cup and the F.A Cup, and lost out on the Premier League by a single point.
Real Madrid prepared for the game having performed miracles in order to get there, fostering the sense of the club’s identity being entwined with the Champions League. They won La Liga comfortably, meaning all that’s left to do is win their birthright.
However, both teams enter the final with a little less momentum than you may expect.
Liverpool suffered an intense disappointment on the final day of the Premier League season. As well as that, their squad is depleted by injury and fatigue.
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Left back Andy Robertson admitted it was ‘gutting’ to lose out that way. If there’s one way to get over it, it would be beating Real Madrid.
“We go to Paris full of confidence and try to win that trophy because that will be a special season. We are good enough to do it. We will be ready. We need to perform at the highest level and if we do that then hopefully we can make it number seven.”
Madrid, meanwhile, are suffering an existential crisis. Following the fallout of the European Super League and their financial issues, Madrid have invested their identity in the idea that they are the next home of Kylian Mbappe.
News this week confirms that Mbappe will remain with PSG, which will result in status anxiety in the Spanish capital.
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Madrid are, somehow, still the destined heroes of Europe. They are not used to players snubbing them. That, coupled with La Liga’s inferiority complex about the Premier League could affect the team’s performance against Liverpool.
Once the game kicks off though, it’s going to be tasty. A final between two of the most iconic European Clubs promises to be one hell of an occasion. It’s the most European Cup Champions League Final ever.
