The midfield rivals of the playing time (Zidnae and Simeone) will go head to head this Saturday night to clinch one of the biggest honours of club football. The last result (champions league final 2014) for Atletico was a very bitter one as the side lost to the Galacticos by 4 goals to one after taking a lead through Diego Godin. Well, the situation is different and most importantly, the squad is different (of Atletico Madrid).
The road to the final was not so smooth, especially for the Rojiblancos. Simeone managed to beat PSV Eindhoven in the round of 16, and the next stop was at the Camp Nou. A very controversial game ended in favour of Atletico as the side won by 3 goals to 2 on aggregate. At next, they had to travel to Germany to face Pep Guardiola’s side Bayern Munich, but Simeone’s men did the impossible and managed a win against the Germans with an away goal advantage.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, had an easier task as they thrashed the Roman empire by 4-0 on aggregate in the round on 16. The side then travelled to Germany to face Wolfsburg and lost by 2 goals to nil, but they recovered the deficit at the Bernabeu with Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat trick to advance through the semifinals. The side faced Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City and the Los Blancos defeated the Citizens by an overall scoreline of 1-0.
Well, Champions League finals are always exciting, and the local derby makes it a nail biting encounter. So, here is the predicted lineup for Real Madrid that could face Atlético Madrid in the Champions League Final-
Goalkeeper: Keylor Navas-
The Costa Rican has managed to keep 22 clean sheets in all competition for the Whites and is an obvious choice for the French manager Zinedine Zidane. As observed from Atletico’s last 2 games in the Champions League, the side relies more on the counter attacking moves and both of their forwards, namely, Antoine Griezmann and Fernando Torres are well capable of beating Pepe and Sergio Ramos with their pace, so, Navas will have to be tough and will have a huge task of commanding the back four of Real Madrid.
Defence: Carvajal; Pepe; Ramos; Marcelo-
With Danilo failing to convince his worth to Zidane, the Spanish full back Dani Carvajal will surely step up ahead of the Brazilian. Danilo gave one of his worst performances in Madrid’s shirt in Germany, and therefore, he was replaced by Carvajal in the second leg. Real Madrid cannot afford any setbacks in the defence, and Carvajal should be the first choice for the French manager.
With Rafael Varane out injured, it will be the Portuguese international Pepe, who will be lining up with Sergio Ramos, who scored the dramatic last minute equalizer in the 2014 Champions League final to bring his side right back into the game. On the left flank, Zidane has a great option in the form of Marcelo, but the Brazilian defender has his cons as well, he sets a perfect attacking tempo for the team, but lacks while tracking back. The game against Wolfsburg is the best example to see where Marcelo was exposed. Zidane will have to work on that in order to stop Atletico’s attacks from the wings.
Midfielders: Kroos; Casemiro; Modric-
Real Madrid have two magicians in the their midfield and both of them are capable of setting a perfect attack for the team. Kroos and Modric, both possess an ability to make a run forward, and while one is on the attack, the other stays back. Both the midfielders are capable of shooting the ball from the range and both are capable of tracking back to defend. And it is safe to say that these two midfielders hold the key to Real’s success in the past few years.
On the other hand, the Brazilian Casemiro will be playing the biggest game of his entire career. The 24-year-old has revived a lot under Zidane and played a crucial role in Madrid’s midfield. With full backs bombing forward, he will be having a tough task to prevent the center backs in the time of Atletico’s counter attacks. Besides that, Casemiro will have to cautious about Koke and Saul as Atletico will be relaying on them for the attacks and both of them are capable of setting a killer pass that could easily split Real’s defence.
Attack: Bale; Benzema; Ronaldo-
The French manager Zinedine Zidane has admitted that their Portuguese attacker Cristiano Ronaldo has not been in peak condition in the past few weeks. The 31-year-old suffered an injury scare in training on Tuesday as he was limped out of the training due to a thigh injury. But the Champions League top scorer believes that he will mark his return on the Saturday night. Benzema is facing his crisis and the Frenchman was not selected in the French provisional squad for the Euro 2016 and his manager will be hoping that it won’t affect his game. Gareth Bale, on the other hand, has had an average season, but will surely be playing in alongside ‘B’ and ‘C’ of ‘BBC’.