Thread by @Metro_Sport

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 ⚽

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.

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 🤝

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 🇮🇹

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 🇧🇷

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 👍

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 🧤

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 🏃‍♂️

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 🇭🇷

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…