Champions League final predictions: Tottenham or Liverpool, who will be European champions?
The 2019 Champions League final is finally upon us with Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool fc set to battle it out for the right to be called European champions.
Both teams have defied the odds to reach it this far having both come back seemingly from the dead in two of the most thrilling semi-finals you will ever see.
Tottenham overturned a three-goal deficit to see off Ajax with Lucas Moura's last-gasp winner lifting the roof off in Amsterdam.
And who could forget the Reds' Herculean comeback against Barcelona, eclipsing a 3-0 first leg reverse to go on to win on one of the most famous ever nights at Anfield.
It all comes down to this on what should be another dramatic occasion, this time at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid.
Liverpool are the better team and all logic - as well as recent results against each other, form and the table - dictates they will win... but I just can’t shake the feeling Tottenham Hotspur will win this.
It’s not a totally irrational hunch. I think Mauricio Pochettino will get them to raise their performance to the kind of ultra-focused elevated level the occasion demands, but also come up with some tactical insight to turn it.
So - just about - 2-1 to Spurs. I wouldn’t put much money on it, mind. I would however back a genuinely good final.
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Jack Pitt-Brooke
Mauricio Pochettino has spoken so much about mentality and emotion, but if it comes down to quality I just think Liverpool will win.
They are clearly the better team, they have better players and if they are on it I don’t think Spurs can live with them.
The only question really is whether - for any reason - Liverpool don’t perform.
But I think their mentality will be strong enough to see them through. 2-1
Mark Critchley
Whatever the result, temperatures above 30 in Madrid are likely to result in a game that’s not as fast-paced as we’re used to watching in the Premier League.
I think Liverpool will win, though I don’t expect either side to keep a clean sheet. I’m going for 2-1.
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Ben Burrows
The fact they've played each other twice already certainly adds another layer of intrigue and that familiarity is likely, allied to the stifling Madrid heat, to produce a more cagey contest than you might ordinarily expect.
In a straight managerial battle give me Mauricio Pochettino's tactical nous over Jurgen Klopp's, but there's no doubt where the majority of the talent lies in the playing squads and that will ultimately decide the game.
Liverpool boast the two, maybe three best players on the pitch and one of them will prove the difference. It'll be close though. 2-1 Liverpool.
Samuel Lovett
Having defied all expectation to reach the Champions League final, Tottenham certainly hold the capacity to pull off one more surprise.
But against a Liverpool team that, from day one, has delivered to the highest of standards, Spurs' fairytale ending looks unlikely to materialise.
Jurgen Klopp's men have been too ruthless, too efficient and too self-assured throughout the entirety of the campaign.
Take into account the disappointment of last year's defeat in Kiev, it's hard to see Liverpool coming away from tonight's showdown without a sixth European title among their clutches.
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Jack Rathborn
There is a mystique in this competition and Spurs have experienced it at its most powerful and will undoubtedly believe it’s their time as Chelsea did in 2012.
Though I disagree it’s a ‘free hit’ for Spurs as this has now become an opportunity to irrevocably change the perception of the club and elevate them to some degree above eternal rivals Arsenal.
But they also have quality and bravery in possession, as displayed at Anfield this season, where Toby Alderweireld’s own-goal to gift Liverpool victory masked what had been an outstanding second-half display. Their fearlessness under Mauricio Pochettino will see them through. Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool AET
Jonathan Liew
Spurs to concede an early goal, because Spurs. Liverpool’s press overwhelms them, Hugo Lloris has more touches than any Spurs player, and the decision to start Harry Kane backfires when Mo Salah “accidentally” breaks his arm on 38 minutes.
But paradoxically, the loss of Kane frees Tottenham up on the counter, and early in the second half Spurs get an undeserved equaliser off Dele Alli’s backside.
Just as Arsenal fans the world over prepare to defenestrate themselves en masse, Liverpool run riot in the final 20 minutes, scoring two goals, or perhaps three, against an exhausted Spurs defence.
Jurgen Klopp dedicates Liverpool’s win to Greta Thunberg and the oppressed peoples of the world everywhere. Pochettino leaves for Chelsea.
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