Jurgen Klopp will spend hours and hours watching video footage this week. He has a game plan to come up with for this weekend’s Champions League final against Real Madrid and part of his research will involve pouring over video analysis of both his own Liverpool team and the opponents the Reds will face in Kiev.
The German coach will look at his team’s quarter-final win over Manchester City, particularly the first half of the first leg at Anfield, when Liverpool found themselves 3-0 up after just 45 minutes. He will also examine the semi-final first-leg win over Roma, which saw Liverpool go 5-0 up with just 20 minutes left to play.
On the flip side, Klopp will surely watch Real Madrid’s last 16 win over Paris Saint-Germain, a game which somewhat defined the Spanish side’s season. The 3-0 away win over Juventus was also mightily impressive for the twice defending European champions, as was the victory over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.
But to come up with a game plan to face Real Madrid, the Liverpool boss must look back, in close detail, at the round of 16 first leg win over Porto. That was the fixture that set up the Reds for the Champions League run that has followed. That 5-0 victory hinted at the potential this Liverpool team had in the continental game. It outlined them as contenders.
While the wins over Manchester City and Roma were impressive, both teams played into Liverpool’s hands. Both sides looked to dominate the possession high up the pitch, leaving themselves open to Liverpool’s rapid attack on the counter-attack. The Reds just had to play their normal game to progress.
Real Madrid won’t play this way. Stylistically, they are very similar to Liverpool, in that they are top heavy in terms of their quality. Liverpool have Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, while Real Madrid have Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo. The Spaniards will also look to exploit any space in behind their opponents.
This is what Porto tried to do in the first leg of their round of 16 tie against Liverpool, albeit poorly. The Portuguese side looked ill-prepared for what the Reds threw at them, as Klopp’s side picked them off at will on the counter-attack. Real Madrid will surely be better drilled, but the principle remains the same - Liverpool should use Porto as a model for what they will face in Kiev. That’s the video Klopp should pay most attention to before leaving for the Champions League final later this week.
The Reds have now scored two more goals than any other team in this season's Champions League, with 28. That's an average of four per game!
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