We are less than 24 hours until the kick-off of the Champions League finals. Wanda Metropolitan Stadium in Madrid will be the venue of the English derby which will decide the new European champion.
Tottenham Hotspurs are aiming their first title in this competition, while on the other side, Liverpool wants to reach No.6.
The pressure and euphoria are high on both sides, and that is a factor which needs to be recognized and restrained. Tottenham’s captain Harry Kane spoke about that at the press conference earlier today, saying that his team needs to keep the focus on the match and avoid overthinking.
“You try not to think about the final but it always pops into your mind during the day so it’s just about staying focused and not getting too carried away.”
Tottenham is coming into this event with a little bit less burden than anticipated, as they already secured the spot in next year’s Champions League edition. This is a huge advantage for the Spurs. Manager Mauricio Pochettino mentioned that his boys need to play without pressure and to adjust their mindset to the period when they were just kids who played soccer for fun.
“The most important thing tomorrow is to be free. To play like when you were young, a child, seven, eight, nine years old and you feel freedom,” said the Argentinian.
On the other side, Liverpool is under massive pressure. This is their third European finals in four years, and they already lost the previous two. Last year’s defeat has left huge doubts in Jurgen Klopp’s abilities, which became even greater after a horrifying ending of the Premier League championship race. Klopp is already labeled as a loser who couldn’t win anything big, and this is the ultimate test for the German coach.
“The things that happened to me in the past for me, I still have confidence put of that and will always,” stated Klopp to the reporters explaining that previous failures won’t affect his team during tomorrow’s event, and him personally.
The German also notified that Naby Keita won’t play this match and that Firmino’s condition is promising.
Liverpool is desperate for a trophy, which we can also say for Tottenham. The Spurs have one of the best generations in their rich history, and yet they haven’t won a single thing. A couple of second places in the Premiership during the recent years isn’t enough for the players like Kane, Eriksen or Dele Alli.
The Reds, as you all know, are frustrated with the fact that they can’t reach the domestic championship. In fact, they can’t win anything in the last few seasons, which is why this match is of the utmost importance for the club.
According to the oddsmakers, Liverpool is the favorite, but knowing how Tottenham plays, that isn’t safe to claim.
On their way to the finals, Spurs squeezed through the group. After that they eliminated Klopp’s former club Borussia Dortmund and made a huge surprise versus Manchester City. Spurs created one of the best comebacks in the history of this competition against Ajax in Amsterdam in the second leg of the semifinals.
Though, we need to say that Liverpool had equally unreal experience against Barcelona, whom they demolished at Anfield with 4-0 and erased a three-goal deficit from the first match. Before that, Klopp’s crew eliminated Bayern Munich and Porto.
All in all, a spectacle is in front of us. These two sides play direct, and harsh soccer, without any calculations, and whenever they clash, goals are certain. Most of the fans expect to see a very offensive and attractive encounter, and we too hope so.
The game starts at 4 pm ET.
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
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Email: nikola@wagerbop.com
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