Roy Keane predicts how Liverpool vs Real Madrid will play out in Champions League final
The Reds scraped through with a 7-6 aggregate victory over Roma
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Your support makes all the difference.Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane has predicted that Real Madrid and Liverpool will simply try and outscore each other in this month’s Champions League final in Kiev.
The Reds made certain of their passage to the final by beating Roma in 7-6 on aggregate as the Italians came all so close to overturning Liverpool’s 5-2 advantage from the first leg, holding on to a 4-2 defeat at the Stadio Olimpico.
Much has been made of Real’s weak defence throughout this tournament and, with Liverpool being the top scorers in this season’s Champions League, many are labelling them as favourites as a result.
However, Liverpool’s own defence looked far from impenetrable – they conceded six goals in the final 100 minutes of the two-legger against Roma – and with the world’s best goalscorer lining up against them in Cristiano Ronaldo, a high-scoring final is predicted.
When asked whether it would be a case of ‘you score four, we’ll score five’ in the final, Keane said: “I think that's exactly what's going to happen. Obviously it's slightly different as it's not over the two legs and there's different mentalities.
“We could look at Real Madrid tonight and pick holes in them, which we have done, but they'll be doing exactly the same with Liverpool.
“Look at Liverpool, the young right-back had a nightmare, the goalkeeper was poor. So Real Madrid will be rubbing their hands as much as Liverpool will be that's why it's such an intriguing game.”
“[Defensively] they've got into some bad habits, a bit sloppy again. They've given some daft goals away, they've got into some bad habits.
“Tonight and over the last couple of league games they've switched off a little bit and you want to go into the final with some sort of momentum behind them and they've just got to be careful.
“Even tonight, a bit of pride has still got to kick in. I know they're celebrating but to lose four goals in a game should hurt you a little bit.”
Should Keane’s goal-fest prediction come true, it will be the first time since 2005, and only the second time since 1962, that both teams competing in the European Cup final have scored more than one goal each.
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