I think some of you misunderstood what I was trying to say. I'm in no way underrating Madrid, I know what we're capable of when we play at our best. I also know that individually speaking, we blow them out of the water.

However, the reason I think Liverpool are clear favorites for the tie is because they have Madrid's kryptonite: gegenpressing. That and the fact that Madrid haven't really been that convincing against Juventus in the return leg or Bayern. They, on the other hand, seem to be going through an explosive form and scoring goals for fun.

Now, granted, we have had a far superior and more difficult run to the final while they enjoyed a relatively easy ride. But still, they sure as hell have done enough to make us be wary of them.

Like vanDeez said, we limped to the final breathing through a straw while they have been torching everybody in their path.

Madrid is Madrid, the king of kings and the godfather of the CL, but there's no shame in saying that Liverpool have a very good chance of winning it based on Madrid's recent run of form and that if we want to emerge as winners we have to raise our grit and motivation. We mustn't play like we did against Bayern. We mustn't.

Also, I disagree with Hala. I really couldn't care less about the clasico. I would rather we lost it and won the CL than the opposite.

The idea of being crowned European Champion for the third year running and thirteenth time overall makes me feel weak in the knees.

It's such a godlike feat that even the word miracle wouldn't do it justice.

I honestly wouldn't care if we lost all our remaining games leading to the final. All I want is to go to Kiev, sink the Reds and bring the most prestigious trophy in the world home to its rightful owner. Go get me my baby please. Give me one more reason to love this legendary club.

I disagree

I would like to see the boys win the clasico. Huge morale booster and will put Barca back their place

I think its a very unpredictable match, we've got experience, better squad on paper and Ronaldo, while they have a hard working team, attack that's on fire and Salah.

On one hand I thing we can out smart them in the middle of the park, as Kroos-Modric-Casemiro-Isco combo is way way more intelligent that Milner Wijnaldum and Henderson, yet what they lack in technique they compensate with hard work and really good pressing. So what needs to be done is shift the ball to the wings which marginalizes mistakes made in midfield, in which case whenever we lose the ball, L'pools wingers will eat us alive with their deadly counters.

Marking Salah out of the game is a must, a Marcelo vs Salah is a slaughter house with Salah as a butcher, so he has to be double marked, which either Casemiro stays more on the left, or Isco/Asensio drops deeper to help Marcelo, yet I'd go for the former option.

One of our main weakness is defending a god damn set piece. We cannot seem to get a hold of them, but Pool's team is not built that way so we can relax on that bit and concentrate on man marking a bit more.

We need to bring our A game against Liverpool and be at 110% in shape, as they run like crazy, which in a sense is good as they run out of steam around the 75 minute mark.

Key point would be not to lose the ball in the midfield, stretch their midfield by shifting play into wings, mark out Salah and find CR7!

Both Ronaldo and Carvajal are back in training. Could play a part vs Villarreal

Exactly the 433 lineup i expected against Villarreal, if it works out well we might see it in the final.

I also think it's the Liverpool line up. Lets see how well they do

Zidane making his son starts nepotism at best, he is one of the worst keeper we produced recently, would not shock me if he makes a mistake day.

My late grandmother finishes better than Benzema....

Unless Navas needed a rest or was injured it was extremely selfish to start Luca Zidane. We have a CL final that our entire season depends on. We need everyone as sharp as possible. Especially Navas.

Out of the opening day 23 for Real Madrid to start the season, Luca Zidane was the only one who hadn't had a chance to play... that's the reason he get the nod today. He was the odd man out until this game.

Won't impact Navas at all. He's played every game. Taking a couple of weeks off doesn't impact a goalkeeper at all... not even a little bit. If he was a field player, sure.

Completely disagree. If anything the keeper suffers the most from lack of match fitness. Practice shots are a completely different ball game compared to match shots.

Luca played because he is Zidane’s son, full stop. If this was Adan or some other random back up I’d bet my life Navas would have started.

That's just not true.  Goalkeepers don't need to play every game at all.  Come on Deez.  That's why with most clubs, you the have the 2nd keeper play the cup games.

And Zidane did this last season too.  Ruben Yanez, the 25th man on the squad, got 1 appearance so all 25 players on the squad got a look in the season. In his first season (half season), he couldn't get Yanez (only player who didn't get an appearance that year)... and understandably since every game until the very last one had implications.  Yanez was the 3rd keeper the last 2 seasons as a FYI.  The 3rd keeper is the Castilla one for Real Madrid.

Most clubs do this btw.  It's normal. You'd like to do it in a cup game... but we keep losing those very early lately.

Which clubs used their 3rd strength keeper on the final game of the season? I would love a list.

Real Madrid complete worst LaLiga season for over a decade [link]

You better win the CL. After all, you have to win something after this horrendous season.

Also, Luca Zidane's inclusion against Villarreal is nothing other than a severe and pure case of nepotism. He sucks and doesn't even deserve to be on the bench let alone start. Let's not start making excuses now for him.

Luca starting was nepotism at its finest, not sure why Sports is trying to sell it as a norm for clubs. It is rare the 3rd choice gets picked on the final day of the season as you'll more see the 2nd choice get picked.

Back to game! I am so confident that I have arranged a celebration at my favourite pub with primos and friends.

Hala Madrid.

I suspect same lineup, with Navas and by way of nepotism once again, Benz will start rather than Bale!

Can’t wait for Sports to do more defending of his French agenda!

In any event, all is good as I’m certain of our 4th CL Championship on 5 years!

Not our best season, but this trophy somewhat makes up for the horrendous first half.

vanDEEZ wrote:Which clubs used their 3rd strength keeper on the final game of the season? I would love a list.

Not the final game.  But when everything is lost or won, clubs play all the kids who just got their pro contracts, anyone on the squad who hasn't played, etc.  Look at City and PSG in their last several games....  Moraes was the keeper in the EPL 2-3 games back for city.  Nkunku and Weah (the some) played for PSG yesterday.

The match was a glorified friendly yesterday.

If his name wasn't Zidane, this wouldn't even be a story lol.

For DoC...  I would like to point out the we've gone trophy-less 7 times in 18 years since 2000.  It's not uncommon lol.  It's football.

if it was a glorified friendly, then we have a lot of players on the bench who could have started, ceballos, llorente, theo, achraf, vallejo, etc... but they did not. There is a kid like Oscar at Castilla who is one of our better talents who could have gotten minutes too. we basically played a first team X with a third rate GK, and he still looked bad lol.

Look we all understand what Zidane did, he is human, he is a position of power and he took advantage of him to help his son get a cap with Real Madrid first team.

it's passed now, like i said, Lucas's contract expires in June, and i doubt he will get an offer from the club, he is not good enough. now we move on

If his name wasn't Zidane, he was not starting. Also, like Nick, it's understandable. If I were managing a club and my son was on the bench, he'll get some minutes.

Also, I need to know how both Sports and Old man Bill could be so confident about our CL tie. I need the formula for that feeling.

sports, That's not an excuse or a valid argument. You're lumping different Madrid teams from different eras in the same box while completely ignoring the fact that they aren't equally strong or dominant to be compared to each other.

Zidane has one of the most talented Madrid sides in the club's history. He had no excuse to lose the league by October and certainly no excuse to finish trophyless.

He must win the CL in Kiev. There's no other way around it. That's the only way to make us forget about the atrocities he has made us go through this season.

A trophyless season should warrant the sack.

Simple,  la liga mucho mejor de EPL.

Spain rules

9 EL trophies in 15 years, plus 2 finalists
7 CL tropies in 15 years, plus 2 finalists
2 WC and 2 euros in 15 years

(Of course assuming 2 of these come true), but either way it is sheer dominance!

You guys like to read a whole lot of something into absolutely nothing....

@Doc... I watched a whole lot of Liverpool this year as they were fun to watch. I'm a closet Salah fan too (amazing story). They're a 60 min team with high pressure. They LOVE it when other teams like to take control and they can counter. We don't do that.

I had two concerns: Benzema being crap and useless + Casemiro looking lost. Bale is going to replace Benzema + Casemiro has looked more like himself lately. So my 2 concerns are gone.

The Demon of Carthage wrote:sports, That's not an excuse or a valid argument. You're lumping different Madrid teams from different eras in the same box while completely ignoring the fact that they aren't equally strong or dominant to be compared to each other.

Zidane has one of the most talented Madrid sides in the club's history. He had no excuse to lose the league by October and certainly no excuse to finish trophyless.

He must win the CL in Kiev. There's no other way around it. That's the only way to make us forget about the atrocities he has made us go through this season.

A trophyless season should warrant the sack.

Not different eras.  We've gone trophy-less 3 out of those 7 since 2009.  It just happens.  The reason we're all so upset is that we've been very poor in La Liga.  That's more a red flag on age and depth....  so we need to shake things up this summer for La Liga's sake.  But I don't question the quality of anyone from CR to Zidane in big games.

La Liga is mostly about winning against the small teams.  The current group doesn't have that kind of hunger anymore to stay consistent for a whole season.  Need a few changes and/or competition. Too many players felt far too comfortable with their status on the team.