Former Liverpool Champions League star fears Liverpool may fall short to Real Madrid

Former Liverpool midfielder Luis Garcia, is ever the Liverpool fan, the headline shouldn’t be read out of context.

In fact he still views the Reds as favourites for the European Cup on Saturday evening in Paris, but that doesn’t stop him from having concerns over the final.

He shares an innate fear that their marathon season could catch up with them eventually at the final hurdle.

Appearing on CBS Sports Golazo, Garcia said:

“It’s very difficult to make the call because both of the teams are going to arrive in a great moment. I think Liverpool, even though they lost the Premier League at the weekend, I’m a bit worried about how they arrive at this physically and mentally. It’s been a very tough season for them. Being involved in every single competition kind of drains you out. You know when your phone has got that last line of battery and you’re saying ‘just one more call, one more text’, that’s how I feel about this Liverpool side. You can see they are suffering and struggling fitness-wise at the moment.”

The Reds have had to juggle with a number of injuries in recent weeks, with 3 players having to come off during the FA Cup final triumph against Chelsea at Wembley on May 14.

However, the team have been given a boost with key midfielder Fabinho and defender Joe Gomez returning to training, but a notable absence being play-maker Thiago Alcantara who limped off against Wolverhampton

Garcia said:

“Thiago Alcantara leaving the pitch – they mentioned it was a hamstring injury, but then they retract and say it was only a calf and he could be ready.

“Fabinho didn’t play, (Virgil) van Dijk didn’t play, (Mohamed) Salah played just a few minutes, he’s getting ready for the final.

“But definitely, the players you can see, they are just giving their last breath out to this team and of course they’re going to do it once again, but against this Real Madrid the intensity of your team has to keep it until the last second because if you give them three minutes, you know what they are capable of because they’ve done it in every single game of their knockout stages.

“Liverpool are favourites on paper, on argument and players, but the history and last few months of Real Madrid, having the chance of resting for so long – I think this Real Madrid are going to arrive fresh with the mentality just ready” he said.

But the Spaniard didn’t fail to stress that Madrid themselves will have something to worry about ahead of the fixture though.

“The only thing missing is that they weren’t able to sign Kylian Mbappe because that would have given them the boost to win the game. It’s going to be a fantastic game. I’m very excited.” Garcia added.

Luis Garcia was one of the heroes of Liverpool in 2005 in their run to the final in Istanbul as they faced tougher teams before having to overturn a 3-0 deficit against AC Milan to win the Champions League against Carlo Ancelotti’s men.