Real Madrid have won the La Liga pretty comfortably and now they have the chance to end the season on a high by lifting the Champions League trophy.
The Los Blancos take on Liverpool at the Stade de France and Ancelotti will be hoping his team can pull out the rabbit from the hat one final time this season.
Madrid, against all odds, have knocked out teams like PSG, Chelsea and Manchester City on their way to the final so they will be confident they can overcome the Liverpool test as well. These two sides have met five times since the turn of the previous decade and Liverpool are yet to beat the La Liga side.
Real Madrid had wrapped up the domestic title pretty early so Carlo Ancelotti has had the chance to rest his players before this key final. He has been using his regular starters sparingly and even in their previous game vs Real Betis, players like Casemiro, Kroos and Ferland Mendy played only the first 45 minutes.
Real Madrid team news vs Liverpool:
Courtois has been one of the consistent figures for Real Madrid this season and he could turn out to be a key element in the final because Saturday’s match can very well go into penalties.
Alaba was on the bench for the 2nd leg against Manchester City but he should come back in the side for the Champions League final. Nacho and Miliato are the other centre-back options and it will be interesting to see who gets to start alongside Alaba.
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— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) May 24, 2022
Ferland Mendy played only 70 minutes against Real Betis so he will be properly rested to take on Mo Salah on Saturday.
The midfield is without a doubt the key to Real Madrid’s success this season so the trio of Casemiro, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos will be the first names on Ancelotti’s teamsheet.
This past weekend, the manager took off all these three midfielders early so as to avoid any unwanted injury concerns.
Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema will be the focal point in attack for Real Madrid but Carlo Ancelotti has a decision to make in terms of selecting his right-winger.
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— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) May 24, 2022
Rodrygo and Valverde are the two candidates who are pushing for a start but since Rodrygo has only been effective off the bench, the Italian manager is likely to hand Valverde a start in Paris.
Eden Hazard was supposed to miss the whole of the season due to an injury but the Belgian has returned from injury and will be available for selection. The forward has contributed almost nothing since moving to Real Madrid so we don’t expect him to be anything more than a benchwarmer on Saturday.
Real Madrid predicted line up vs Liverpool:
Predicted Starting Line up(4-3-3): Courtois; Carvajal, Militao/Fernandez, Militao; Mendy; Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Luka Modric; Benzema, Vinicius Jr, Valverde.
Read: Liverpool’s predicted line up for the Champions League final.
Stats courtesy Fotmob.
