ZCZC
BSP-06
FBL-EUR-C1-ESP-ENG-LIVERPOOL-TOTTENHAM
Tottenham and Liverpool chase biggest win of all to drop loser tag for good
MADRID, May 31, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Among the rewards for the Champions League
winners on Saturday will be silverware, status and history but the greatest
prize awaiting Liverpool or Tottenham might be an end to the agonising wait.
Combined, it has been 18 years – seven for Liverpool, 11 for Tottenham –
since either lifted a trophy, despite huge strides made in recent years under
the much-praised Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino.
Klopp and Pochettino have been singled-out as two of Europe’s best coaches
after crafting teams that reflect their personalities — Liverpool thrilling
and fearless, Spurs brave and unrelenting.
And while scepticism has greeted the perfection of Manchester City’s star-
studded squad in England, approval has also followed Liverpool and
Tottenham’s nurturing of youngsters.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Harry Winks came through the clubs’ youth
systems while Andrew Robertson, Dele Alli and Kieran Trippier joined aged 24
or younger. All of them could start at the Wanda Metropolitano.
But any admiration still comes with an asterisk. Liverpool’s last trophy
was in 2012, a League Cup that remains their only success since they won the
FA Cup in 2006.
And Tottenham’s barren spell goes further back to the League Cup in 2008,
which was their first trophy since winning the same competition in 1999.
Pochettino has tended to bristle at suggestions his team have a habit for
coming close but failing to get over the line.
When asked in January if the club needed a trophy, he said: “I don’t agree
with that, it’s good for the ego. But in reality the most important thing is
to build a team that is always going to be in the top four.”
The expectations are higher at Liverpool, where Klopp’s vow to win
something within four years of taking charge reaches its end-point this
weekend.
“It didn’t happen yet,” said Klopp in April. “How long it will take I have
no clue.”
Klopp’s also denied a personal need for silverware after having lost six
cup finals in a row as coach, three of them with Liverpool.
“I don’t think that way at all,” he said earlier this month. “In football
if you want to win you have to accept that there are occasions when you also
might lose.”
– Falling short –
The pressure on Liverpool may be more intense, not just because of their
success-laden past but because of a craving for satisfaction after a season
in which they amassed 96 points in the Premier League but still fell just
short of champions City.
They will be favourites, having beaten Tottenham home and away already this
season and with their experience of last year’s final in Kiev. In the Spurs
squad, only Toby Alderweireld has played on this stage, losing with Atletico
Madrid in 2014.
For a shot of belief, Pochettino might instead turn to Harry Kane, who has
declared himself fit after recovering from an ankle injury.
Kane has not played a competitive match since April 9 and Tottenham have
survived without their star striker, even if a storming run in the Champions
League belied a collapse in form domestically.
If he is fit, Kane’s goal threat means he will start, most likely at the
expense of Lucas Moura, despite the Brazilian’s dizzying hat-trick against
Ajax in the semi-final.
Liverpool’s own front man, Roberto Firmino, is also expected to play after
sitting out the last three matches with a groin strain.
Harder to predict will be Klopp’s selection in midfield, where he must
choose three from James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum and
Fabinho.
Considerably more than the 32,000 ticket-holding fans were predicted to
descend on Madrid, with police deploying “unprecedented security” around the
final, involving drones to monitor behaviour and 4,700 personnel.
When the Spanish capital was picked as host, there was an added lure for
Real Madrid, who might have defended the title in their own city, and
Atletico, who could have snatched it off them at their own home ground.
Instead, after Barcelona crashed out, Spain were left with no European
finalists for the only second time in 10 years.
A new era, perhaps, for the Premier League. For Liverpool and Tottenham,
another chance to end the wait.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0850 hrs