Champions League final: Liverpool legend Lawrenson has one big fear

Mark Lawrenson fears naivety could be Liverpool’s biggest enemy in tomorrow night’s Champions League final against Real Madrid.

Former Ireland defender Lawrenson, who was a European Cup winner with Liverpool in 1984, is backing Jurgen Klopp’s class of 2018 to join the exclusive list of icons who have won the biggest trophy in club football for the Anfield giants.

Yet he has warned that Real Madrid’s battle-hardened team of champions will not give up their title as European champions without a fight, as he hinted they will use any tactic necessary to secure a third successive Champions League crown.

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“On form and looking at the respective abilities of the two teams, I would say that Liverpool are favourites to win in Kiev, but one concern would be how nice and honest Jurgen Klopp’s side are,” states Paddy Power ambassador Lawrenson.

“This Liverpool team are nice, honest lads. You could take them all home to meet your mother and she would approve of them, but that niceness could trip them up in a game against a team of serial winners. There are a few guys in the Real Madrid dressing room, maybe Sergio Ramos is one of them, and he know how to win the big trophies and it is not always about doing things honestly.

“Against teams that go for it and play attacking football, Liverpool have shown they can be confident of beating anyone, yet I look at Real Madrid and they are a mix of great players and a little bit of deviousness when they need it.

“Madrid are very good stopping you playing if they snatch an early goal and Liverpool have shown they are not great at breaking teams down that have the sole intention of putting up a defensive wall, denying them space and making life difficult.

“They will attract fouls, they will time waste, accept the odd booking to stop Liverpool’s flair players and that is where I feel there is still is a little bit of naivety there with Klopp’s team at the moment.

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“That is not a criticism and one of the factors we have all enjoyed about this team is the freedom they have played with, but they are not as streetwise and they could be and Real Madrid may look to exploit that.

“Liverpool will to win this game in the right manner and we all admire them for that, but Real Madrid will be surrounding the referee and trying to put him under pressure at every opportunity.

“They will also be giving away niggly fouls and trying to stop Liverpool from doing what they are good at because they know if they don’t stop Klopp’s players and particularly their front three, Liverpool will more than likely end up as winners.”

Lawrenson has urged the Liverpool players to have full belief in their abilities as they look to etch themselves into Anfield folklore, as he suggested Klopp’s side have already proved they can blow any opposition aside when they are at their brilliant best.

“Instead of going into the game worried about not having won any major trophies yet, I would reverse that mentality and suggest the Liverpool player should be thinking; you know what, this is our time, this our moment. Let’s seize it,” ‘Lawro’ added.

“Of course, you shouldn’t write off a team that has won the last two Champions League finals, but it just feels to me that something is in the stars that says this is Liverpool’s year.

“If you tried to build a team from the Real Madrid and Liverpool squads, how many of Klopp’s players would make the line-up? Not many, I would suggest.

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“On the other side, Liverpool would take Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Isco, Toni Kroos and Luca Madrid. They would all get into the Liverpool team and you could add a few more names into that.

“Despite that, I still fancy Liverpool to win this final, simply because of their attacking power. When they need a goal in a game to stun the opposition, their front three have delivered time and again.

“Whoever wins, I expect we will get a sensational final in Kiev this weekend, with rock and roll football from both sides. Look at the semi-final between Liverpool and Roma. One finished 5-2, the other was 4-2 and in the end, you needed calculators to work out the aggregate score, but what a spectacle it was.

“Two teams going for it, showing us all their attacking flair and hopefully we get more of the same this weekend…with Liverpool hopefully ending up as winners at the end of it.”

Mark Lawrenson is a Paddy Power ambassador. To read more, go to news.paddypower.com.