Much has been made of this most intriguing of finals, a clash of Titans in the European game, with both sides having scintillating front-lines and suspect defences. This Saturday could very well end up as the highest scoring European Cup final ever, surpassing that famous 1960 final in Glasgow. Real Madrid played on that occasion too, running out 7-3 winners over Eintracht Frankfurt.
This time, Real Madrid's opponents are Liverpool - this seasons top scorers with 40 goals.
Threat to the Throne
Liverpool was the last side to beat Los Merengues in a European Cup final, recording a 1-0 win in Paris in 1981, with goalscorer Alan Kennedy having described the game as "Liverpool bad, Real Madrid worse." This year, The Merseyside outfit possess perhaps the most potent attacking trio in world football at the minute, with Premier League Golden Boot winner Mohamed Salah partnering Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane up front.
The Red's front three have been in scintillating form all season, with Salah and Firmino each on ten Champions League goals while Sadio Mane is just one behind them with nine. Meanwhile, veteran midfielder James Milner has recorded the highest number of assists in a single Champions League campaign, racking up nine throughout Liverpool's run to the final. If you add to all of that Liverpool's incessant pressing over 90 minutes, and the mind-blowing pace of Salah and Mane, Los Blancos may well be facing their toughest final opponent on their era-defining run of 4 Champions League finals in five years - winning the last two editions of the competition.
Tactical dilemma
So just how do Real Madrid solve such a puzzle?
One of the Spanish side's main advantages is their superior technical ability in midfield. The likes of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric are two of the most press resistant players on the planet, and if Isco starts alongside them, Real Madrid has three players in a central area who are masters at evading a high press. Matching Liverpool in midfield with Kroos, Modric and Casemiro would leave Isco completely free between the red's midfield and defence, which would cause Liverpool major problems when Real Madrid are on the attack.
The diminutive playmaker's ability to drag players into areas of the pitch they do not want to be in frees up space for the Competition's all-time top scorer - Cristiano Ronaldo- to threaten the English side's backline. Lining up with Isco in a 4-4-2 diamond is likely to pin Liverpool back into their own half for large periods of the game, but it frees up acres of space on Real's flanks for the blistering pace of Salah and Mane to expose on the counter-attack.
Alternatively, starting Gareth Bale allows Los Blancos to overload on the wings and try to nullify any space that Marcelo and Carvajal leave when they bomb forward. Bale also has bags of pace and comes into the game in stunning form, having hit five goals in his last four outings, so starting the Welshman may well provide Real with security on the flanks and a very dangerous threat on the counter-attack. The defending champions would have to sacrifice Casemiro for this, which removes a pressing target for Liverpool, but leaves less defensive solidity against Firmino for when the Brazilian inevitably drops deep to collect the ball. This would give Sergio Ramos no choice but to vacate his position to nullify the threat of Firmino, leaving gaps that Salah can exploit.
The Spanish outfit, however, is not inflexible when it comes to getting a result. Against Atletico Madrid in the 2016 final, Los Merengues deployed a mid-block, giving Atleti more of the ball and hitting them on the counter. Adopting a similar approach in Kyiv could well be fruitful for Zidane's men as Liverpool have displayed an inability to carve open teams who sit back and let them have the ball, mostly down to their lack of creativity in the midfield. Liverpool's bench does not inspire much belief either, with the likes of Danny Ings, Dominic Solanke and Ragnar Klavan waiting in the wings for Klopp's men, whereas Real Madrid will be able to turn to Mateo Kovacic, one of Isco or Bale, Marco Asensio or even Lucas Vasquez should things not be going their way.
Whatever the result, we are in for a classic in Kyiv.
