The state of play ahead of the Champions League final: Real Madrid without a squad, Liverpool (probably) without a key player

The Champions League final is just around the corner, Real Madrid and Liverpool are fine-tuning the final details, fitness coaches are preparing their charges to be perfectly ready on Saturday night. However, that probably won’t work for everyone.

Real Madrid

Let’s start with the Spanish side. Carlo Ancelotti is counting on all of his charges, fitness coach Antonio Pintus has been doing a fantastic job all season and the players are in perfect shape, as evidenced by the turnovers in the final minutes and the mastery of extra time.

The only question mark hangs over David Alaba, the 29-year-old stopper missed the whole of May due to injury, an injury he picked up in the first leg against Manchester City. But he should be ready for the final. If not, he will be replaced by the experienced and reliable heartthrob Nacho.

Liverpool

Jürgen Klopp has much bigger problems to deal with. In the League Cup final, Mohamed Salah and Virgil Van Dijk both pulled out due to injury, but the situation is not serious for either. Both were already on the bench in the last league game against Wolves, Salah even came on and scored a goal. Both should be ready for the final.

Another absentee is Fabinho, who was substituted in the 29th minute of the game against Aston Villa on May 10 due to a muscle injury, and has missed three games since then. According to Klopp, he should be fine for the final, but there is still a question mark hanging over him.

But the Reds’ biggest concern is for Thiago Alcantara. He limped off in Sunday’s game against Wolves due to a thigh injury and his situation doesn’t look good at all. “Thiago’s injury? I think he won’t be for the final, but I don’t know yet. You could see he was limping and that’s not a good sign. It doesn’t look good,” Klopp worried after the game.

At the moment Thiago is fighting against time, according to the English media his start is 50-50 at the moment. If all three are healthy, the trio of Fabinho, Thiago and Henderson will start in the starting line-up. Naby Keita will probably be the first substitute, Klopp also has James Milner or Curtis Jones available.

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