UEFA Champions League Final: Liverpool vs Tottenham

This season’s UEFA Champions League which climaxes today pitches Liverpool FC against Tottenham Hotspur in the second all-English final ever

Tonight’s epic match is taking place inside the resplendent Estadio Metropolitano, the newly-reconstructed stadium that has replaced the Vicente Calderón as home of three-time UEFA Europa League winners, Atlético Madrid of Spain.

It is named in honour of the original Estadio Metropolitano which served as Atlético’s home turf until 1966.

The stadium was officially opened to the public on September 16, 2017 when Atlético faced Málaga in the a La Liga game with their talisman, Antoine Griezmann scoring the stadium’s first goal in a historic 1-0 home victory.

The stadium, located on the Avenida Luis Aragonés (named in honour of Spain’s UEFA EURO 2008-winning coach), has a capacity of around 68,000 and was built with environmental concerns in mind.

Located in the north-east of Madrid, its LED lighting and solar panels reduce energy consumption, while recycled rainwater irrigates the pitch.

Of note is the fact that one can easily access the stadium on subway line seven (staion: Estadio Metropolitano).

And ahead of the encounter, football expert analysis, team news, coaches’ views, and key stats have not been in short supply.

According to Liverpool Manager, Jürgen Klopp, today’s debacle is featuring “Two proper football teams in the final”, while his opposite number in Tottenham, Mauricio Pochettino says; “Most important is to play with freedom.”

What the coaches say

Looking at his best and biggest ever outing on the European Soccer stage, Pochettino is full of huge expectations. So, for him and his team, “The most important thing is to be free. To play like when you were young, a child, seven, eight, nine years old and you feel freedom. The key is not to think there is one billion people watching you. It (today) is about winning. We want to write history in football. We know very well what we need to do. Liverpool are a great team, Jürgen is a very successful manager. I admire him a lot. To arrive in the third personal final of the Champions League is chapeau and congratulations.”

Always unassuming, Klopp, who insists he is not an unlucky coach believes that; “Finals are always different; you come with a different team, the circumstances are always different. If I was the reason for losing six finals in a row, then everyone needs to worry! But that’s not the case. In the last seven years at least, I’m probably the world record holder in winning semi-finals. If I was to write a book about it, probably nobody would buy it. It’s a real football final. Now, we both have to deal with that because it makes it really intense.”

Also sharing their thoughts on the match, UEFA.com reporters are upbeat about today’s proceedings.

Daniel Thacker – Tottenham says: “While the midfield will be a key battleground, the full-back areas could prove just as pivotal. If Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson rampage forward as they did at Anfield recently, Liverpool will be well set. If Mauricio Pochettino can devise a way not only to stop them, but to do damage in the wide channels through the inspirational Heung-Min Son and his own full-backs, then Spurs could reap the rewards. It will be tight, it will be tense and it is too close to call.”

For Matthew Howarth – Liverpool: “Tottenham shaded the midfield battle in the teams’ most recent league meeting and would have left Anfield with a point had it not been for Hugo Lloris’s late error. If Liverpool are to exorcise the demons of Kyiv, the likes of Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum and Fabinho will need quickly to gain control in the middle of the park. If they succeed, Jürgen Klopp’s ‘mentality monsters’ have every chance of lifting their first piece of silverware under the charismatic German.”

Possible line-ups

Spurs: Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Winks, Sissoko; Eriksen, Alli, Son; Kane

Out: none

Doubtful: Kane (ankle)

Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mané
Out: Keïta (thigh)

Doubtful: none

Most recent game
12/05: Spurs 2-2 Everton (Dier 3, Eriksen 75; Walcott 69, Cenk Tosun 72)

12/05: Liverpool 2-0 Wolves (Mané 17, 81)

Both clubs’ last 10 results in all competitions, starting from the most recent:

Tottenham:   DWLLLWLLWW
Liverpool:      WWWLWWWWWW

Key battles

• Sadio Mané vs Kieran Trippier?
• Heung-Min Son vs Trent Alexander-Arnold?
• Moussa Sissoko vs Jordan Henderson?

Final facts

• Liverpool would go third on their own on the all-time European Cup honours’ board should they beat Spurs to lift the trophy for a sixth time.
• In total, Tottenham and Liverpool have met 170 times in all competitions, the Reds winning 79 to Spurs’ 48; with 43 ending in draws.
• Spurs are the 40th club to reach the European Cup final and the first newcomers since Chelsea in 2008. They could become the 23rd side to win the European Cup.
• Having got Liverpool’s goal against Real Madrid in Kyiv last year, Mané could become the eighth player to score in more than one UEFA Champions League final.
• There have been six previous UEFA Champions League finals between teams from the same country.
• The 2013-14 final was the first in the tournament’s history to feature teams from the same city. The same two clubs faced each other again in the 2016 final (Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid).
• In 2000, two Spanish teams battled in the final, though they were from different cities.
• Here are all the winners of the UEFA Champions League since the first in 1955. Real Madrid currently hold the record for the most victories in the competition, having won the trophy 13 times, including the inaugural competition in 1956.

– UEFA.com