REAL MADRID KING OF FOOTBALL IN EUROPE

Before the UEFA Champions League final begun, it seemed strikers fight: Cristiano vs Salah. As usual, the key players were other and unexpected. That’s why we can state that » football seems to be very simple but it has a huge complexity»

Neither Salah, due to his injury, nor Ronaldo, bad game, were the key players

However, I hardly heard about the «tactic fight» between the managers: Zidane and Klopp.

The game

The game plan was followed in the first 30 minutes. Liverpool high pressure made very difficult for Real Madrid to connect with the two forwards with Cristiano on top as his body language started to look frustrated. He got frustrated because he is not good enough to drop and participate in the game with Real Madrid midfielders so he prefers to stay high. The more time Cristiano didn’t touch the ball, the more anxious he gets.

Liverpool’s got hit when the big star Salah got injured. His tears showed that he was thinking about missing the World Cup rather than stay strong and focused on his teammates in this final. The game was stopped for almost five minutes just when Liverpool was giving a hard time to Real Madrid. From then, Liverpool didn’t press so hard and Real Madrid players started to dominate the game through possession and using the two fullbacks on the attack. Marcelo experienced a relief and Carvajal who got injured when he was on the attack.

Time to reset….

Lallana substituted Salah in the first half but he didn’t get his role in the game. Klopp did it in halftime, giving Mané more freedom on the attack

In any competition and especially in a final game besides the position, the formation and the lineup, the psychological aspect among the players is one of the main factors to have a good or a bad performance. And also the ability to overcome a mistake. That happened to Karius, Liverpool’s goalkeeper, who never went back to the game after his big huge mistake.

And, as we stated before the game, bench players could make the difference too. Bale was the MVP of the game, playing only 30 minutes and scoring two goals, one of them a superb bicycle kick

STATISTICS

Real Madrid

1Navas

2Carvajal Substituted for Nacho at 37’minutes

5Varane

4Ramos

12Marcelo

10Modric

14Casemiro

8Kroos

22Isco Substituted for Bale at 61’minutes

9Benzema Substituted for Asensio at 89’minutes

7Ronaldo

Substitutes

6Nacho        11Bale          13Casilla     15Hernández      17Vázquez   20Asensio    23Kovacic

Liverpool

1Karius

66Alexander-Arnold

6Lovren

4van Dijk

26Robertson

5Wijnaldum

14Henderson

7Milner Substituted for Canat 83’minutes

11Salah Substituted for Lallana at 30’minutes

9Firmino

19Mané Booked at 82mins

Substitutes

2Clyne       17Klavan    18Moreno     20Lallana       22Mignolet      23Can      29Solanke
Stats / Estadísticas

Possession / Posesión

Real Madrid 66%

34% Liverpool

Shots / Tiros

Real Madrid 14

13 Liverpool

Shots on Target / Tiros a puerta

Real Madrid  5

2  Liverpool

 Corners / saques de esquina

Real Madrid   9

5  Liverpool

Fouls / faltas

Real Madrid    5

18 Liverpool