Zinedine Zidane’s side head to Kiev seeking to win Europe’s elite club competition for the third year in succession - but Real legend Emilio Butragueno is wary of the threat posed by their opponents.
“We are talking about two historic teams - great, great clubs, two of the greatest clubs in the history of the game, so I think it’s going to be very, very exciting for fans all over the world,” Butragueno told Liverpoolfc.com in Madrid.
“We know how difficult it is going to be. A final is a final and Liverpool have been performing at the very highest level, playing very, very well, offensively really very strong, so we have to play at our best if we want to win the title.
“Their season has been remarkable because they’ve been very, very consistent and at the same time they’ve grown as the competition has gone by.
“The tie they played against Manchester City was really fantastic because it was a great, great opponent, one of the contenders for the title, and you beat them playing a very, very solid two games.
“You’re a great team, you’re going to be very dangerous. Offensively you have many, many resources so we have to be alert from the very beginning and pay attention to every detail because at this level every detail could be decisive.”
Liverpool’s tally of 40 goals scored in the 2017-18 Champions League makes them comfortably the tournament’s most prolific outfit.
And Butragueno cited their attacking potency, along with the managerial qualities of Jürgen Klopp, as the factors that most impress him about the Reds.
“You have a great coach who has been able to convey the right message, to convince the players to follow him. He has a strong personality, he knows a lot about football and he’s a great leader,” the former Spain striker said during a conversation at the Santiago Bernabeu earlier this week.
“The team itself, they play very well in a consistent way… offensively, of course there is Salah, but I think Mane and Firmino, they form a great offensive line and they have scored many, many goals throughout the season.
“So they have an offensive mentality, a winning mentality, and at the same time you are a historic club so you have in your genes all the cups you won in the past. They are all there in the minds of the players, the minds of your fans, and that is important as well when you play a final.”
A winner of six La Liga titles during his illustrious playing career, Butragueno believes the outcome of the final is too close to call.
He is, however, sure that a ‘fantastic’ spectacle is in store at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium.
“[It’s] unpredictable! It’s a final, everything is going to be very even,” the 54-year-old continued.
“It’s going to be difficult for both, I think it’s really going to be a very exciting final, a thrilling final, because we both have an offensive mentality, a winning mentality [and a] winning spirit.
“I think it’s going to be a fantastic final. It’s going to be an end-to-end game, because in that sense we are going to [try to] score goals and set the pace of the game, try to have the control of the game. From a football fan perspective, it’s going to be a fantastic game.”