Fame, honor and lots and lots of money are at stake when the greedy Reds with stars like Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane four years after losing the Champions League final ask the ripped-off old masters of Real Madrid for Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema for revenge .
“The whole world will be red or white tonight,” Klopp said of the much-anticipated final at the Stade de France. Red, that’s Liverpool FC, who can lift the 73.5 cm trophy for the seventh time and, after triumphing in the FA Cup and League Cup, complete the cup treble. White, these are the comeback kings and record winners from Real Madrid, who have already eliminated PSG, Chelsea and Manchester City with their mentality monsters.
Liverpool are favorites on paper, but Klopp has been warned. “If you only look at their final minutes, Real are unbeatable. Their comebacks were impressive,” says the 54-year-old about the rocky path of the 13-time title holder to the final.
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His hope: “If they played like that for 90 minutes, it would be complicated. But fortunately there are 88 other minutes.”
Real Madrid: In the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo
Routine is Real’s greatest bargaining chip – eight players can win the Champions League for the fifth time, equaling Cristiano Ronaldo’s record. In addition to Toni Kroos, these are the goal machine Benzema, Gareth Bale, Casemiro, Daniel Carvajal, Marcelo, Nacho Fernandez and Luka Modric. “That says everything about Real. But when we’re at our best it’s difficult to play against us,” said Klopp.
Benzema in particular, who excelled in the knockout stages with hat-tricks against PSG and Chelsea and a brace against Manchester, will matter at the Stade de France.
For Klopp’s opponent Carlo Ancelotti, the game will be the “most important game in the world of football”. The Italian should know: Ancelotti can win the title for the fourth time after triumphs with AC Milan (2003, 2007) and Real (2014) – that too is a record.
Real Madrid vs. Liverpool: memories will wake up
Four years ago, when Real won the final against Liverpool 3-1 after two mistakes by goalkeeper Loris Karius, Ancelotti was absent – unlike Klopp. “In Germany we say: You always meet twice in life. That sounds more like a threat than it’s actually meant to be,” said Klopp.
There can be no talk of revenge for the final in which Salah had to leave the field injured after half an hour after a duel with Sergio Ramos. “Of course I want to fix that, but I don’t believe in revenge. Revenge is always a bad idea,” said Klopp.
In any case, the stage is set: Paris as a replacement for St. Petersburg (Klopp: “That’s exactly the right message that Russia should receive”) has been flooded with fans for days, with up to 40,000 supporters expected from Liverpool alone without a ticket. The color red dominates around the Eiffel Tower, but Jürgen Klopp has no eyes for any of it. “What counts is the pot,” he says: “You never know how many times you’ll reach a final. In the end, there can only be one.”
(SID)
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