The much-awaited UEFA Champions League final is almost here. Real Madrid fans all over the world have been waiting for this day and they have a very positive feeling ahead of it.
The players are working hard day and night to be 100% for the game. Real Madrid has released the squad list and all the first-team players are available, which is a piece of very positive news for the manager. Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Isco will be heading to Paris with a very motivated mindset of giving a very good performance in what could be the last match of their Real Madrid career.
The most experienced players of the team – Luka Modric, Casemiro, Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, Dani Carvajal, Casemiro, Isco, Marcelo and Nacho Fernandez have already won 4 Champions League titles and will be hoping to win their 5th, while players like Vinicius Jr., Rodrygo Goes, Federico Valverde and Eduardo Camavinga would be playing their first final.
It’s going to be a great match, and I think that in this interesting match, these three individual battles will be worth watching.
1. Mohamed Salah vs Ferland Mendy
This is going to be a very feisty encounter and worth watching on Real Madrid’s left flank. What makes it so special is that we will see a highly motivated, yet young Ferland Mendy against Mohamed Salah who is hungry for revenge for the 2018 UCL final and the quarterfinal of last season.
We all know how big of a threat Mohamed Salah is. It is going to take something to stop the Egyptian and I believe only Ferland Mendy is capable of it. It will be a highly physical encounter where both the players will be using their speed to maximise their impact on the ball.
On a good day, it is pretty impossible for any player to run past Mendy. He is one of the best young left-backs in the game right now. He is not very good offensively – his crossing is disappointing and his long shots aren’t sharp enough – But Ferland Mendy can easily compensate for that with his high defensive capabilities.
Mohamed Salah will have a difficult day and will need a lot of help from Trent Alexander Arnold if he wants to rule Real Madrid’s left flank.