Liverpool right back Trent Alexander-Arnold says he won’t be intimated by Cristiano Ronaldo during the UEFA Champions League Final on Saturday. TAA says that he has a healthy respect for CR7 and the rest of his Real Madrid teammates, their opposition this weekend, but it’s not too much respect. He’s got the right attitude, and that’s clearly a product of stellar leadership by third year manager Jurgen Klopp.
The Reds have defied the odds all season long in order to get to this point, with the opportunity to grasp their sixth European Cup title imminent this weekend. It’s easy to understand why some might find Madrid intimidating, as they have won three of the last four Champions League titles. However, Liverpool are a side that just seems built for competitions like this.
“It’s not easy, but it’s possible,” Klopp said about going up against great white.
“And it’s cool playing against Real Madrid. They’re the defending champions, and they’ve won back-to-back titles in this competition. They’ve done really well under Zinedine Zidane.”
“He’s one of the top 10, top five players of all time. And now he’s the coach of Real Madrid, a hugely experienced team on the pitch. That’ll be a nice challenge. I’m glad we’re not playing against each other!
“Me against him, marking him or whatever… I’m very glad I can send my players onto the pitch.”
The Sports Bank’s Liverpool FC Starting XI Prediction
LW – Sadio Mane CF- Roberto Firmino RW- Mohamed Salah
MF – James Milner MF- Giorgino Wijnaldum MF- Jordan Henderson
LB- Andrew Robertson CB – Virgil van Dijk CB – Dejan Lovren RB- Trent Alexander-Arnold
GK- Loris Karius
Injury report and team news for both teams: go to this link
Manager press conference videos: coming Friday
For a review of the Real Madrid Stadium Tour: go to this link
Odds: Real Madrid 4/6, Liverpool 6/5
Real Madrid starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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