Exclusive - Liverpool and Real great Steve McManaman's verdict on 'dream' Champions League final

Steve McManaman believes Real Madrid will struggle to contain Liverpool’s free-scoring forward line in Saturday’s Champions League final in Kiev, as he believes the battle between his two former clubs will serve up a “dream” final.

McManaman won the Champions League on two occasions with Real Madrid, but his heart lies with his first club Liverpool as he looks forward to a showdown between two attack-minded sides to decide who will be crowned European champions.

“The chance is there for Liverpool to win this trophy and as long as they believe in themselves, they can create history in Kiev,” McManaman told Yahoo Sport in an exclusive interview.

“From my perspective, this is the dream final. The two teams that mean more to me than any other doing battle in the Champions League final and when I look at the teams on paper, it feels like Liverpool go into the game with a slight edge.

“They look quicker to me in key areas, they look sharper than their opponents in Kiev and I say this from watching Real Madrid in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the competition, when they did not impress me.

“Real Madrid are not as dynamic going forward as Liverpool. Their midfield is excellent and they have the genius of Ronaldo to win them a game, but this team are not what they were when they were at their best two years ago.”

While McManaman has warned Liverpool that Cristiano Ronaldo and his Real Madrid team-mates will still be a potent threat in their third successive Champions League final, he believes his old colleague Zinedine Zidane will need to shake- up his squad ahead of a third place finish in La Liga this season, even if they are crowned as kings of Europe once again.

“Real Madrid look like the need a bit of refreshing now, they need something fresh in that line-up as it has been together for a long time and maybe needs reviving a little,” adds McManaman.

“The solution down the years has been to inject some new superstars into the team to liven things up and I look at the English teams and they all look a little bit more hungry and desperate for success in the Champions League this season.

“The same teams have been in the semi-finals and finals of this competition year after year in recent times and while that proves they are the best, it is also hard to keep your desire at the same levels when you have already won the Champions League two and three times, as some of these Real Madrid players have now done.

“What we should never do is write these great players off and on the day, they could easily find a way to beat Liverpool. This game might come down to who commits the least mistakes. We have seen over the course of this season that Liverpool and Real Madrid are prone to lapses in concentration and on big nights like this, those big errors can be so costly.

“My verdict on this Champions League final goes something like this; I think it will be a high-scoring game and I think Liverpool might just nick it.”

Watch Real Madrid v Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League Final on BT Sport 2 and BT Sport 4K UHD from 6pm on Saturday 26th May. BT Sport is where the best go head-to-head , for more info visit www.BT.com/sport