Champions League 21/22 Final-Paris
Football’s biggest competition UEFA Champions League Final is to take place in Paris on May 28th, 2022. Two teams with arguably most passionate fans are battling for European glory this Saturday. The old guard of this competition, Real Madrid meets the glory of England, Liverpool. This meeting can suitably be summed up as an unstoppable force (Liverpool) meeting an immovable object (Real Madrid). If you are looking for just the match analysis, scroll down to game analysis.
Short analysis of current season:
Liverpool are heading into this competition as a favorite to win the title. Going into this competition as a Winner of this season’s both FA Cup and EFL Cup, Liverpool are not short of confidence. Though their confidence might have slightly dented by the loss in EPL title race by a single point to Champions of England, Pep’s Manchester City, after a season long phenomenal race. This certainly spilled mud in Liverpool’s desire to win quadruple this season. If you are anything like me, I believe in momentum in football, and after winning two big titles, loss of the EPL title has broken Liverpool’s momentum of winning titles, which certainly humbled them down. On the top of that, Liverpool players have played more high stake games untill the end of season due to EPL title race till the last match week. So, some of the players are expected to be exhausted. Moreover, there are concerns that some of the players Thiago, Fabinho and Van Dijk may not be 100% fit for the game.
On the other hand Real Madrid have won this season’s LaLiga Title with several games to spare. They are also the winner of Espana Supercopa 2022 at the beginning of the year. But Real Madrid were never among the favorites to win this year’s Champions League. Defiying the criticism, Real Madrid clinched their place in the final after back to back three dramatic comeback wins. Coming to the final after passing all those unimaginable hurdles, Real Madrid certainly believes that Champions league title is theirs to take home. About the RM squad, all the players are well and ready to fights when called upon though RM squad this season is certainly not the most dangerous in terms of their quality.
Now Game Analysis:
First battle-In front of RM defense
It is clear that Liverpool’s most threatening position is their forwards. Salah, an EPL golden boot winner, Mane full of confidence after clinching many domestic and international titles this season, and their mid season super signing Luis Diaz are all in very good form. While Bobby Firmino and Diago Jota finishes the job whenever called upon. Any combinations of front three could start though Diaz, Mane and Salah more likely. While RM defense has been very shaky throughout the season, the most likely starters are Militao and Alaba in the center, Carvajal and Mendy at the wings. The most hardworking Valverde might start the game to stop Robertson from going forward and also help Carvajal with controlling Diaz at the right flank. While on the left flank, Salah and Mendy might go one on one. However, I prefer Nacho over Alaba for the Final. Alaba has came back to full fitness only recently. So, Nacho who has more experience and more aggression, and who has displayed some fantastic defense recently might get a callup for few minutes.
Second Battle- LIV’s Defensive Right Flank
It is no secret that Trent Alexander Arnold (TAA) likes to go up front all the time and he is most productive when he is on the offensive half displaying his supreme passing skills and setting up for his forwards. It is also no secret that Vinicius likes to dribble past the offensive denfenders with his unmatchable speed. So, the real battle takes place in this zone to keep Vinicius away from goal. Since TAA is the key brain in LIV’s attack, it is unlikely that Klop replaces him with defensive minded right back. So, that leaves the job of stopping Vinicius to either their Center Backs or Jorden Henderson/Fabinho who will cover that space while TAA is on the attacking half. Second defensive battle is Benzema Vs LIV’s two center backs. Benzema is the deadliest sticker in the Europe this season and he is in terrific form in this competition. Van Dijk and Konate both are very strong players physically, which makes them very good at marking positional strickers, i.e. typical number 9’s. But Benzema is no typical number 9 who waits for ball in front of two center backs the whole time. He drops deep and helps in playmaking from deep that makes LIV defenders very hard to man mark him. On the top of that, he is very good at setting up goals which makes him very unpredictable and dangerous. Konate is physically strong and good at man marking, but Matip is better at reading game and more experienced. Because of that, the combination of Van Dijk and Matip might be a better choice than Van Dijk and Konate.
Third and the most important Battle: Midfields
While the both sides are very threatening on the offensive sides, real battle will be fought in the middle of the ground. The experienced trio of RM will face LIV’s midfield who has been performing very well this season. Most of the LIV’s goal threats comes from the flanks. So, RM might play with two number 6’s. Kroos battling against TAA on one side as Henderson drops deep to cover for TAA. Casemiro and Valverde battles with Robertson and Thiago on the other side. While Modric gets to play freely or Modric and Valverde might team up to battle on the right while Casemiro gets to defend the through balls from right and left positioning himself between RM’s center backs. As both team focuses on trying to stop each other on the flanks, battle might be won in the middle of the ground.
There is no need to mention about the Keepers. They both have been phenomenal this season.
Important things to consider:
Real Madrid and their Champions league mentality/history.
Liverpool and their phenomenal Campaign this year.
The qualities of substitutions from both side who can make dramatic impact.
Liverpool and their recent EPL wound.
