Real striker Cristiano Ronaldo hails Jurgen Klopp's highly motivated Reds ahead of Saturday's finale in Kiev
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo trains under the watchful eyes of coach Zinedine Zidane in Madrid yesterday. Pic/AFP
ADVERTISEMENT
Cristiano Ronaldo is sure Real Madrid will not have it easy this weekend against a Liverpool outfit who remind him of the Los Blancos of a few years ago - but has no doubt the Spanish outfit are better than Jurgen Klopp's men. Saturday sees Real and Liverpool clash in the Champions League final in Kiev as the clubs look to add to European Cup hauls of 12 and five respectively.
Real are serial winners
While it will be Liverpool's first appearance in the final since 2007, it will be Real's fourth in five years, with them having secured the trophy in 2014, 2016 and 2017. It has been almost nine years since Ronaldo was signed from Manchester United. The Portugal star, 33, says he would rather it was his old club playing in Saturday's game than Liverpool — and has given an interesting assessment in terms of the sides who will be involved in the showpiece.
'Finals are special'
Ronaldo said: "Finals are always special occasions. I would have preferred it to be Manchester United. But Liverpool deserve respect. We're not going to have it easy. They deserve to be in the final. "They remind me of Madrid three or four years ago. Their three front players [Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane], they're very quick... They are powerful in attack. But Madrid are better. We have to play to our level, but we also have to respect the opposition." Real won the first five European Cup finals, between 1956 and 1960, and since then Ajax and Bayern are the only clubs to have claimed the trophy three years in a row.
Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
