Champions League Final, Liverpool vs Real Madrid: Midfield battle holds key, says Mark Seagraves

Some
pundits
have
already
billed
the
contest
as
one
between
Liverpool’s
tight
defence
and
Real
Madrid’s
attacking
style.

The
match
also
offers
numerous
sub-plots
such
as
the
face-off
between
Mohamad
Salah
and
Karim
Benzema
or
the
personal
skirmish
among
Trent
Alexander-Arnold
and
Vinicius
Jr.

Champions
League
Final
2022:
Liverpool
vs
Real
Madrid:
David
James
predicts
Red
rising
in
Paris

Ex-Liverpool
star
Mark
Seagraves,
who
is
now
a
television
pundit,
gave
insight
into
what
could
prove
to
be
the
decisive
factor
in
the
match
to
be
held
at
the
Parc
des
Princes
Stadium,
the
home
ground
of
Ligue
champions
Paris
Saint-Germain.

“The
battle
in
the
midfield
will
be
the
key.
Whoever
gets
possession
of
the
football
for
a
longer
time
will
be
the
team
who
can
create
more
opportunities
and
score
goals.

As
we’ve
seen
both
teams
have
players
of
top
class
like
Mohamad
Salah,
Sadio
Mane,
Thiago
Jota,
Karim
Benzema,
Vinicus
Jr,
who
all
can
score
goals.
For
me
that’ll
decide
the
outcome
of
the
Champions
League
final,”
Seagraves
told
a
group
of
invited
journalists
in
a
virtual
media
interaction
hosted
by

Sony
Sports
Network,
who
have
the
exclusive
broadcast
right
of
Champions
League
in
India.

Champions
League:
Villarreal’s
dream
run
will
end
in
semis:
Mark
Seagraves

Seagraves,
who
is
one
of
the
panelists
for
Sony
Sports
Network’s

Live
Studio
Show
for
football,
dwelled
on
the

midfield
battle.

“The
battle
between
Trent
Alexander-Arnold
and
Vinicius
Jr
will
be
interesting.
Alexander-Arnold
is
defensively
not
so
good.
But
going
forward
he’ll
prove
his
worth.
On
the
other
hand,
Vinicius
Jr
has
been
on
a
roll
since
the
start
of
the
season.
He’s
creative,
rapid
on
the
left,
has
been
scoring
goals
and
has
grown
to
the
level
which
Real
Madrid
wants.
So,
it’ll
be
a
good
battle
between
them,”
he
said.

The
last
time
Liverpool
met
Real
Madrid
in
the
Champions
League
final
(2018,
Kiev),
the
latter
had
the
last
laugh
winning
3-1.

So,
will
Jurgen
Klopp
and
Co.
will
have
revenge
on
their
mind?
Seagraves
thinks
so.
“Definitely.
They’ll
make
sure
that
2018
doesn’t
repeat
this
time.”

Seagraves
has
his
reasons
to
believe
that
Liverpool
could
win
the
premier
club
competition
in
Europe
this
time.

“The
tied
has
changed
now.
Liverpool’s
best
XI
is
much
better
than
Real
Madrid’s
best
XI
now.”

Premier
League:
Manchester
City
retain
title,
Tottenham
clinch
4th
spot,
Arsenal
misses
out,
Burnley
relegated

Liverpool
had
narrowly
missed
out
on
winning
the
Premier
League
title,
and
Seagraves
believes
that
will
make
them
a
more
determined
unit.

“The
thought
of
not
winning
the
Premier
League,
having
narrowly
missed
it
on
will
also
be
weighing
in
their
minds.
Liverpool
are
a
far
better
team
than
they
were
in
2018.
On
the
other
hand,
Real
Madrid
was
a
great
team
four
years
back.
But
they
aren’t
the
same
dominant
team
now.

“Liverpool
are
the
favourites
and
Real
Madrid
are
the
underdogs
now.
But
that’ll
suit
Madrid
as
they
can
play
with
less
pressure.
“They’ve
come
back
trailing
as
like
in
the
semifinal
against
Manchester
City,
but
against
Liverpool,
I
doubt
if
they
can
do
it.
After
May
28,
they
can
sit
back
on
holidays
being
a
treble
winning
team
again,”
Seagraves
concluded.”

UEFA
Champions
League
2021-22
Final
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