Gareth Bale’s recent comments regarding the 2018 Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid have sparked a wave of reactions among our fans.
Speaking with BT Sport, via The Mirror, the Welshman said: “I remember talking to Liverpool players before the first Champions League final in which we faced each other.
“It was hard for them to sleep, they were nervous…we had a different mentality. We only thought of winning, and even more so in a final, despite the fact that they arrived playing better than us.”
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It appears that, in the mind of the former Spurs man at least, mindset played a significant role in Los Blancos’ victory – despite our superior form leading up to the showpiece event.
The subsequent year though saw our team channel the pain of that defeat to secure victory against Tottenham, in a triumphant moment of redemption for all of us.
It is also important to acknowledge that the outcome of the 2018 final was not solely determined by mentality though.
Factors such as Loris Karius’ unfortunate mistakes and Mohamed Salah’s injury significantly impacted the course of the match, that’s not ignoring Sergio Ramos’ involvement in both incidents which added controversy to the encounter.
Although the steel mindedness that stemmed from losing in Ukraine, inspiring a victory the following year – it’s hard to attribute too much praise to injuring our best player and two huge mistakes from our goalkeeper.
#Ep76 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: Liverpool Transfer Committee Show!