{"id":500,"date":"2018-05-10T17:14:04","date_gmt":"2018-05-10T11:44:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/?p=500"},"modified":"2018-05-14T09:22:14","modified_gmt":"2018-05-14T03:52:14","slug":"500","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/2018\/05\/10\/500\/","title":{"rendered":"Five battles within the battle awaiting at the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final"},"content":{"rendered":"

1.Virgil Van Dijk vs Karim Benzema<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Virgil van Dijk made the\u00a0\u00a375m switch to Liverpool in January to fulfil their European ambitions and stop best attackers\u00a0in the world. Liverpool booked their place in the Kiev decider with a 7-6 win on aggregate over Roma after a dramatic two-legged semi-final. Come 26th May, Van Dijk will have a plenty to pull out from his defensive repertoire to contain Bale-Benzema-Cristiano attacking combination. Benzema being the conventional centre-forward is expect to lurk inside the box to get into the scoring pockets. Strikers like Benzema are a dying breed, the typical marksman striving on a defensive error looking to capitalize positional mistakes from Centre backs\u00a0or looking to slip-in the simple tap-ins.<\/p>\n

Van Dijk needs to on top of his game pairing with Lovren to calm the defence down, eliminate any mistake around the box. With Real Madrid looking to attack en masse, and really pile the pressure on.VanDijk needs to dictate terms and lead the defensive shape to keep it compact and avoid any scrappy mistake for a poacher like Benzema to nip-in a goal.<\/p>\n

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2.Jordan Henderson vs Cristiano Ronaldo\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Klopp’s\u00a0philosophy of a team should attack and defend as a unit, and that does not involve a midfielder to solely sit deep. This leaves Jordan Henderson as the only defensive minded\u00a0midfielder to\u00a0break up the play and participate in the attack. Henderson’s box to box role has been crucial in reviving Liverpool’s European fortune often doing the dirty work in midfield to put in the tackles, breaking attacks, taking yellow cards for the team.<\/p>\n

But come 26 May at Kiev, Henderson will be up against the best, the attacks will be relentless and leading the attack will be ruthless Cristiano Ronaldo\u00a0with 120 Champions League goals. He has served up so much to enjoy over the past decade and beyond but nothing quite like this. His perfectly struck overhead kick past Gianluigi Buffon\u00a0 was so good even the opposition fans applauded it.<\/p>\n

With 50 goals in sight, Jordan Henderson needs to pull a bunny out of the hand to stop the magician himself.<\/p>\n

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3.Mo Salah vs Marcelo\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Well, Marcelo is regarded as one of the best left back’s in the world at the moment. The Brazilian\u00a0Marcelo loves to get forward but often cuts inside to take a strike at the goal and provide the attacking width for Real’s attacking threats to attack the box. He’s a wonderfully creative footballer who possesses a level of technical ability usually associated with geniuses.<\/p>\n

However, as seen in Madrid\u2019s semi-final against Bayern, he can often be caught well out of position. And we\u2019ve seen this season that if you give Salah half a yard, he\u2019s most likely going to take it. Mo\u00a0Salah has been a revelation this season, right up there with best. Mo Salah showed his effervescent\u00a0class in the two legs against AS Roma. He was pouring magic on the field, scoring beautiful goals, setting it up for the team. With\u00a0over 40 goals this season, Mo Salah operating down the right could set up for an intriguing battle with Marcelo at Kiev.<\/p>\n

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4.Roberto Firmino vs Sergio Ramos<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Firmino has always been under the radar of first\u00a0Philippe Coutinho and now Mo Salah. But\u00a0the stealth in which the forward operates\u00a0transformed himself from a false nine to a very real one,\u00a0 getting into the scoring zones and finishing games for Liverpool. He contributes more than just goals. The way he keeps the ball drops deep down and puts in the off tackles in the midfield is a testimony to the impact Firmino had on Liverpool’s success. In 47 appearances, the 26-year-old has scored 25 goals and provided 14 assists\u00a0Firmino\u2019s ability and willingness to press from the front is essential to the way Liverpool play the game.<\/p>\n

As Liverpool chase their European glory in Kiev, Sergio Ramos would be standing in the heart of Real Madrid defense to shield the attacking threat of\u00a0Firmino, Salah and Mane. Ramos having played more than 400 games for Real Madrid forms the defensive spine of the team. He brings dynamism and solidity to the center back and is no-nonsensical approach brings gun-metal solidity to the backline.<\/p>\n

Known for physical brashness, towering headers, commanding defending is what describes Madrid’s fearless leader on the pitch. Ramos enjoys battle on the pitch, plays with the opposition\u00a0on mind and body. His blood, guts and grit approached has salvaged many games for Real and has been crucial in their trophy hunt. The Armada will be ready to block any threats from Firmho and Co. and it would be a prelude to an interesting battle between the strength of Real’s iron shield Ramos against Firmino’s Brazilian magic and persistence.<\/p>\n

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5.Sadio Mane vs Casemiro\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Fast, direct and quick is what describes Mane while Casimiro does his dirty work directly adjacent to dribblers, passers and fantasists of iconic vision and beauty. Mane will be dangerous with his explosive pace and\u00a0seemingly tireless energy reserves press and pull defenders out of their comfort zone. Mane would be direct, looking storm the 18 yard with a chance to shoot or lay it off for Salah or Firminho and Casemiro’s role would be vital in the night to provide much-needed defensive solidity to the space between the back line and the more creative midfielders. Casemiro’s role in A fundamentally\u00a0offensive team, becomes more crucial to intercept attacks, slow attacks down for the reinforcements to arrive, Liverpool has shown this season they can be lethal on the break with Mo Salah and Sadio Mane operating from channels to devastating effects. Kiev will witness many battles within the battle but the midfield battle duel between Casemiro and Mane could be a tactical show-stealer.<\/p>\n

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1.Virgil Van Dijk vs Karim Benzema Virgil van Dijk made the\u00a0\u00a375m switch to Liverpool in January to fulfil their European ambitions and stop best attackers\u00a0in the world. Liverpool booked their place in the Kiev decider with a 7-6 win on aggregate over Roma after a dramatic two-legged semi-final. Come 26th May, Van Dijk will have a plenty to pull out from his defensive repertoire to contain Bale-Benzema-Cristiano attacking combination. Benzema being the conventional centre-forward is expect to lurk inside the box to get into the scoring pockets. Strikers like Benzema are a dying breed, the typical marksman striving on a defensive error looking to capitalize positional mistakes from Centre backs\u00a0or … Continue reading “Five battles within the battle awaiting at the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final”<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[142,144,145,148,147,149,143,146],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}