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May 26, 2022 12 tweets 6 min read Read on X
Liverpool and Real Madrid will start the #UCL final with systems which look similar on paper, but which hide so much more beneath the surface 🔴⚪ #LFC #RMCF

We’ve analysed both sides' setups, to find out where the match could be won and lost 👇🧵

metro.co.uk/2022/05/26/liv…
Both will ostensibly look the same, bar the colour of their kits — 22 men, each 11 arranged in a 4-3-3 in front of their respective goalkeeper.

But the differences between those 4-3-3s mean both sides are going to have plenty of opportunity to exploit one another's weaknesses ⚽ Image
For Real, the key to their hybrid 4-3-3/4-4-2 is Federico Valverde 🇺🇾

He is asked to give width on the right wing when his team are in possession, while dropping deeper and narrower in defensive transitions to become an extra midfielder when Liverpool are have the ball. Image
Valverde's dual role means he will be able to double up with his colleague at right-back in order to attempt to quell Liverpool's threat down their left-hand side, where Andy Robertson and likely Luis Diaz will combine to form a considerable challenge 🤝 Image
Ancelotti used a similar double right-back system to good effect against Liverpool in 2019, when his Napoli side earned an impressive draw at Anfield with giant centre-half Nikola Maksimovic and right-back Giovanni Di Lorenzo combining to halt Sadio Mane 🇮🇹 Image
On the opposite wing, Real Madrid have their biggest chance to attack Liverpool. In possession, Brazilian forward Vinicius will stick wide towards the touchline, looking to collect an out ball and run at or in behind Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back 🇧🇷 Image
The chances Liverpool concede are often as a result of their high-line, which means it can seem one pass has caught a full-back losing concentration

But the Reds choose to give up those chances because in possession they move to 2-5-3, and the risk is usually worth the reward 👍 Image
Klopp is happy to rely on the recover pace of both Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate and the incredible one-on-one record of Alisson Becker to bail them out.

Even with a world-class forward bearing down on goal there is a fair chance Liverpool can escape without conceding 🧤 Image
In midfield, Liverpool possess an array of nimble, physical players who are capable of turning the ageing Luka Modric and Toni Kroos inside out if they are able to start the match in the right rhythm 🏃‍♂️ Image
But Kroos and especially Modric remain two of the most gifted midfielders to have played the game with the ball at their feet, and the Croatian in particular is capable of putting numerous chances on a plate for the world's best player, Karim Benzema, to kill the match 🇭🇷 Image
Who do you think will come out on top in the #UCL final? 🤔
Real Madrid vs Liverpool in Paris might be the most romantic of all possible European Cup finals, but it is also one of the most intriguing sporting contests imaginable.

You can read the full analysis from @_Dan_Austin here 👇

metro.co.uk/2022/05/26/liv…

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More from @Metro_Sport

May 28, 2022
The two men who defined the 2018 #UCL final between Liverpool and Real Madrid won’t be taking part this time 🔴⚪ #LFC #RMCF

We took a look at the errors, the overhead kick, and the weirdly similar careers of Karius and Bale since then 👇🧵

metro.co.uk/2022/05/28/why…
In Kyiv, Gareth Bale swivelled rearward, propelled his left leg at a right-angle towards the heavens, and hit a shot into the top corner so unerring, so perfectly timed, so wrought with wrath, that it could have burnt a searing hole through a literal iron curtain ⚽
As football analysis and punditry have evolved in the information age, elite-level players are increasingly judged on their data, the numbers they produce both in front of goal and in their season-long all-around play, rather than on their moments of brilliance 📈
Read 11 tweets
May 27, 2022
Liverpool and Carlo Ancelotti share plenty of history, and they will meet again in club football’s biggest game on Saturday night for the #UCL final 🔴⚪ #LFC #RMCF

We’ve explored the shared destiny of the club and the manager 👇🧵

metro.co.uk/2022/05/27/rea…
Ancelotti was always supposed to end up living in Liverpool. Once he did, he found that he loved the coastline 🏖️

‘There’s a beautiful beach,' he said. ‘You can walk all the way to Formby on the coastal path. There are the Gormley statues, 100 of them. I really like it.'
Since the final he lost with AC Milan in Istanbul when Liverpool came from 3-0 down to win on penalties, Ancelotti's fate had been to end up in Liverpool 🔴

That night his and the Reds' respective destinies became one, bound by the twisted metaphysics of football.
Read 11 tweets
May 26, 2022
Chelsea legend John Terry hits back at Rio Ferdinand after he named Virgil van Dijk and Jaap Stam ahead of him when ranking the best defenders in Premier League history ⚽️

Read More Below 👇🏾

trib.al/7jZi1S9
Speaking to Van Dijk on his YouTube show ‘Between the Lines’, Ferdinand and the Dutchman discussed how the Liverpool star compares to the best centre-backs in the history of the league 🏆⚽️ GettyImages
Van Dijk put himself up there with the greats after transforming Liverpool’s fortunes since his £75million arrival from Southampton in 2018 ↗️

However, he has won just one Premier League, which pales into comparison to the likes of Ferdinand and Terry 🏆
Read 8 tweets
Mar 14, 2022
It's finally race week! 🙌

The new #F1 season gets underway at Bahrain this weekend, but which teams look quick, and who has work to do? 🤔

We analysed each team's performances in pre-season to see how they could rank going into the season 👇🧵

metro.co.uk/2022/03/14/how…
10. Alfa Romeo 🔴⚪

Much will depend on the performance of the Ferrari engine Alfa Romeo runs, but the team has been consistently dropping backwards for the past few years and the faster times they set were likely done on low fuel.
9. Williams 🔵

Williams lost an entire day of testing due to the FW44 catching fire. Aside from that, the Williams seemed pretty reliable and Alex Albon in particular put in some solid long runs, but there was nothing to suggest especially strong pace from the FW44 in Bahrain.
Read 12 tweets
Mar 12, 2022
Pierre Gasly won many fans in Netflix's #DriveToSurvive docuseries.

We sat down with him and chatted about F1 and his journey so far.

Read more from our exclusive chat with Pierre Gasly below 👇 🏎

trib.al/33OywYV
Pierre Gasly, the French driver who will lead the Alpha Tauri team into the 2022 season when it begins in Bahrain on the weekend of 18 March, joined the F1 grid at 21 and has had to contend with significant strife in his time in the sport. Photography credit: Getty I...
‘Over the last five years I think I’ve grown up a lot, from the different experiences I’ve had to go through, whether it was professionally or personally,’ Gasly exclusively told Metro.
Read 10 tweets
Jan 10, 2022
Novak Djokovic has won his appeal against the Australian government's decision to cancel his visa 🎾🇷🇸

But how exactly did the Serb manage to stop his deportation? We took a look at the key issue the judge's decision hinged on 👇
The Serb’s visa was cancelled by the government upon arrival for this month’s Australian Open, after determining that the player’s recent Covid-19 infection did not sufficiently meet the requirements for him to be allowed to enter the country unvaccinated 💉
Djokovic spent the weekend in a hotel for visa detainees, while his lawyers put together a legal case designed to overturn the ruling and allow him to compete in the tournament which he has won on nine previous occasions.

So how did the legal case succeed in the end? 🤔
Read 8 tweets

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