We are just over a week away from this year’s Champions League final in Madrid which will see Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur face off to see who will be crowned kings of Europe. I have been debating the outcome of this game a great deal with my flatmate Bogoljub Karic and we have somewhat differing opinions on how the game will pan out. It is his belief that the game is a foregone conclusion and that Liverpool will romp to victory, for my money, it won’t be quite so easy, let’s take a look.
Easy Street for Liverpool
The case for Liverpool easily beating Spurs is a strong one, Liverpool finished the season 26 points ahead of them after all, that is almost 9 more wins for Liverpool than Spurs, who actually lost a third of their Premier League games last season. Further evidence is that Spurs have only beaten Liverpool once in the last 15 years, a stat which certainly doesn’t make for easy reading for any Tottenham fan. Liverpool have everyone fit and everyone charged up after a two week break, they also know that it would be criminal for this side not to win something this year, given what happened in the Premier League, losing to City by just a point having only lost 1 game all year. Finally Liverpool were here last year, they were beaten, they tasted that disappointment and they won’t want to do so again.
Not So Simple
All these stats are well and good but it is important to remember that this is a cup final, 90 minutes on foreign soil where just about anything can happen. Spurs were written off after gaining just 1 point from 3 group games, then again when they faced Dortmund, which they won convincingly, again they were expected to lose against City, they won, and when trailing to Ajax? That’s right, they won again. This Spurs team doesn’t know when it is beaten, they will fight to the last and they certainly have surprises in their locker. Spurs will need the Gods to be in their favour if they are going to win, that is for sure, but as we have seen throughout this campaign, it looks like Spurs may very well have Zeus, Odin and Jupiter on the subs bench! It is important to remember that Spurs only just lost to Liverpool last month when an unfortunate own goal in the 93rd minute secured Liverpool’s 2-1 victory, the distance in quality between these two is not as far apart as many would have you believe. Spurs will need to be clinical, avoid disciplinary issues, hope for a red card or injury to their opponents and most importantly, hope that their talisman Harry Kane is back to produce the magic which we all know he possesses. Will Tottenham win? That is improbable, is it a foregone conclusion? Not on your nelly!
How do you think the game will go down? Let us know in the comments.
