ClapOne more game. That is all that separates Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool from making history. These two illustrious clubs have been consistently improving at the top of English football over the last few years, and now, it’s time for one of them to claim the title of ‘Champions of Europe’. That’s quite the statement, and that’s quite the accolade for either side – whomever it may be.
They’ve bought scratched and clawed their way through to the final in Madrid, with the semi finals being the most impressive stage of all. Both teams were in precarious positions against Ajax and Barcelona respectively, which could quite easily have wound up being the final tomorrow. Alas, Spurs and the Reds were able to initiate two truly remarkable and truly unique comebacks, ensuring that they would be the ones competing for European football’s greatest prize.
It comes down to this
There are thousands upon thousands of fans from both sides that have already made the trip out to Madrid, and who can blame them? It’s a great city to host a final of this magnitude in, and unlike the Europa League final in Baku, we can all but guarantee the atmosphere will actually be good as opposed to being absolutely rotten. Alas, that’s a different story for a different day.
The Mirror is reporting the kinds of lengths that fans are going to in order to let the world know how much they want their side to get a win, with a terminally ill patient being desperate to see Jurgen Klopp’s men lift the trophy. If that doesn’t make you feel emotional, then we don’t know what will.
BBC has an official preview set and ready to go for the final itself, but beyond all of that noise, we just want to celebrate the fact that this is the first all-English final for 11 years. That, in itself, is no small accomplishment, as these two clubs find themselves following in the footsteps of Chelsea and Manchester United. In a lot of ways, they may even be better than those two teams too.
They’ll never walk alone
Liverpool are quite clearly the favourites to take home the trophy and there’s no way of getting around that, but Spurs aren’t just heading to Spain to make up the numbers. They’re going to be giving it all they’ve got in what is, quite simply, the biggest game in the history of their club. That may sound like an overstatement, but it’s true.
It’s going to be intriguing to see how the Reds handle the pressure of being the favourites here, because there’s a chance that they could collapse. Both clubs have been accused of ‘bottling it’ on multiple occasions throughout the years, but as we’ve seen in recent weeks, that no longer appears to be the case. Instead, they seem to be growing and improving to the point where both teams could easily help to guide English football into a brighter tomorrow.
For now, though, all we’re going to be focusing on is the excitement and hype surrounding what should be a remarkable final.
