Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville have made their predictions ahead of the Champions League final this weekend with Liverpool and Real Madrid about to fight in Paris.
(
Image: Getty Images)
Jamie Carragher feels “confident” that Liverpool will be able to win their third trophy of the season and beat Real Madrid in the Champions League final on Saturday.
Jurgen Klopp’s team is aiming for another trophy as they look to finish the campaign to the max. They have already won the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup, and although they lost the Premier League title at the expense of Manchester City, the Reds can still come out with three trophies.
Meanwhile, the whites arrive at the game after easily winning the league title, finishing 13 points above second-placed Barcelona. Carlo Ancelotti’s men have only lost four league games on the road to becoming champions and are looking forward to adding their 14th Champions League trophy to their cabinet.
Liverpool fan buys “UK’s cheapest coach” to take fans to Champions League final Liverpool star Ibrahima Konate’s journey from Paris street football to Stade de Paris France
When he made his prediction, Carragher told Sky Bet’s The Overlap podcast: “I’ve seen Real Madrid in the Champions League this season and they’ve lost more Champions League games than Liverpool all season in all. competitions.
“Real Madrid are a very good team, but they are not as good as Man City and I don’t think they are as good as Chelsea, although they have beaten both.
“You can spin it in both directions with the spirit, the victory, the return, but they have brought a lot of luck in these games, which you need. If you win every game at the last minute coming from behind, if you are so good team you don’t put yourself in that position all the time.
“Man City should have mistreated them, they should have won [their semi-final first leg ] 6-2 at home, and then they lost 3-0 at home to Chelsea.
Diogo Jota and Casemiro fight for possession during Liverpool’s last game against Real Madrid in April 2021 (
Image:
Getty Images)
Who will win the Champions League final on Saturday? Let us know in the comments below!
“Of course, Real can win, it’s a unique match. I just think that if City or Liverpool played Real Madrid in a one-off match, having their team and playing to the fullest, they would win the game. I’m sure.”
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, meanwhile, believes Liverpool will fall short over the weekend and admits Real’s midfield options will prove to be too much for the Reds. Ancelotti is likely to face Luka Modric, Casemiro and Toni Kroos in the final, with Federico Valverde supporting from a wider role and Eduardo Camavinga likely to leave the bench.
“I don’t think Liverpool will win the European Cup,” Neville told The Overlap podcast. “I thought a lot [the final in] Paris and I have been thinking about Real Madrid and why they have won their matches, why they keep coming back.
“I thought about 1999 and how we kept coming back to the games and winning late. It was our midfield [Roy] Keane, [Nicky] ass, [Paul] Scholes, [Ryan] Giggs i [David] Beckham. They were absolutely phenomenal, beyond any level of what I’ve ever seen.
“I look at Real Madrid’s midfield to Casemiro, Kroos, Modric – in addition to the two who arrive late with Valverde and Camavinga – these five players lead them from the first minute to the end. And Carlo Ancelotti interferes with them until the end. very final.
“I think Liverpool’s midfield is their weak point and in the last 15 minutes this Real Madrid midfielder – the five combined – will see them win Saturday’s game.”
Read more
Virgil van Dijk calls his best team of five, but rejects Liverpool strikers
Read more
Liverpool star Andriy Voronin, unrecognizable in a charity match after fleeing Russia