At The End, Real Remain Kings of Europe

And so this year's Champions League final in Kiev came with Spanish giants, Real Madrid, again coming out on top with a handsome victory over premier league side Liverpool.

The 3-1 defeat of Jurgen Klopp's exciting side proved that their hunger for success remains unquenched and insatiable. They may have been disappointing this season in La Liga after finishing a distant 3rd but in Europe, they have always found a way to win.

In just two and a half years, Zidane has won the Champions League trophy 3 times thus surpassing the likes of Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola and even the great Sir Alex Ferguson who have all won the the trophy twice. A fantastic achievement.

As for Zidane's opposite number, Jurgen Klopp, it is yet another disappointing final loss. Klopp has now lost six of his seven major finals as a manager. 

While in charge of Borussia Dortmund, he lost 2 German Cup finals, 2 Champions League finals (Dortmund and Liverpool), one League Cup and one Europa League final (both with Liverpool). His sole Cup triumph is the German Cup in 2012.

His critics will consider him a serial under achiever at the biggest stage. In this year's Champions League final loss to Madrid however, it will be harsh to lay the blame on Klopp's game management. 

Even though many have identified the defence as Liverpool's biggest problem this season, an issue Klopp partially fixed with the signing of Dutchman, Virgil Van Dijk, from Southampton in January in a deal worth £75M Pounds. 

He has however, failed to correct the other part of the defence problem which turned out to be their Achilles heel- buying a decent goal keeper. 

Loris Karius' 2 goalkeeping errors in last Saturday's final proved pivotal and turned out to be gifts for a Madrid team who showed their experience and class at this level. A level Karius seemed out of his depth.

The first half was by no means a classic with Madrid wary of the pace of Liverpool's front 3 of Mane, Firmino and Salah. A trio that prior to this game had scored 29 goals in the competition. Madrid were in no mood to afford them the space to wreak havoc and so kept it tight.

The turning point came in the 31st minute when Salah had to come off after he injured his shoulder in a tumble with Sergio Ramos. Prior to his departure, Liverpool had been on top and were the better team. 

But after his exit, Real Madrid grew into the game and had a goal chalked off for offside after Benzema put the ball into the back of the net after Karius had saved well Ronaldo's header. Benzema was correctly adjudged to be offside. 

Benzema would not be denied however, as he in the 51st minute blocked Karius's poor throw with the ball rebounding and rolling agonisingly for the Liverpool faithful, into an empty net.

The lead didn't last long though, as Sadio Mane gave Liverpool hope by bundling home the equaliser after he met Lovren's header from a corner kick. It was his 10th Champions League goal in 11 games. He also became the fourth African player to score in an European Cup Final after Rabah Madjer, Samuel Eto'o and Didier Drogba.

Zidane sent on Gareth Bale in place of Isco and with his fourth touch, scored what is considered one of the best goals if not the best in Champions League finals history. An overhead kick which team mate Ronaldo would have been proud of was how Bale put Madrid back into the driving seat.

It was game set and match for Madrid in the latter stages as Karius came up with another clanger as he failed to hold a speculative 30 yard short from Gareth Bale and the ball spilled from his grasp into the back of the net.

It left the Madrid fans delirious while the Liverpool fans in tears. Klopp was stunned and the Liverpool players unable to lift themselves with defeat surely a certainty at that point.

The final whistle blew and Karius understandably was in tears. Sadly, none of his team mates were in the mood to show him any empathy. He was left alone to cry his heart out. It was the Real Madrid players, Bale inclusive, who finally went to console him. 

Karius humbly went back to the Liverpool fans shortly after in tears, hands raised in apology. How Liverpool fans, who would have been seething at that moment, would take this is left to be seen.

It is difficult to not see Klopp entering the transfer market this Summer to sign a world class goalkeeper. He was 2 goalkeeping howlers away from winning a famous Champions League title. 

A day in which many Liverpool fans believed was going to be a glorious one for the 5 time European Cup winners quickly become a nightmare. The omens were there, they had an entertaining team and they had the best player in the Premier League, Mohammed Salah. Sadly, it was not to be their night.

As for Karius, whether he remains the number one for Liverpool or not next season, he needs to bounce back from this disappointment and not let these mistakes define his career. 

Klopp is a few good signings away from really challenging for the premier league title and taking on Europe again. After this season's adventure, he seems most likely and best equipped to challenge Pep next season.

As for Madrid, a topsy turvy season has ended on another high. They have 3 UCL titles on the spin and their 4th in 5 years in a period that has had the best Barcelona team in generations. 

Zidane becomes the third manager to win the European Cup 3 times but the first to win it in 3 consecutive seasons.

He has a new challenge off the field though. Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo have hinted that they may want to leave the club. If this happens, a lot of rebuilding job would be required to maintain the level they are at the moment. 

Will we see the likes of Salah or Hazard moving to Spain if these noise (which we have heard before) turn out to be true?

 

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Super Eagles World Cup Squad: Who Could Miss Out?

        

On Monday this week, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) submitted the provisional squad list of the Super Eagles that will represent Nigeria at the World Cup Finals in Russia next month to FIFA.

The list will be whittled down to 23 after a series of friendly games and training sessions would have given the Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, a fair idea the best players fit and good enough to perform well at the world cup.

The list as expected included the usual suspects such as Captain John Obi Mikel, Victor Moses, Ogenyi Onazi, Ahmed Musa and Kelechi Iheanacho amongst others.

As usual with provisional squads, a few surprise inclusions and wild cards have made the cut. Players such as Dele Ajiboye who is Plateau United's shot stopper, Junior Lokosa who is the NPFL's top goal scorer with 18 goals for Kano Pillars, Simeon 'Simy' Nwankwo from Italian side Crotone who has been in hot form recently and Stephen Eze a defender who was impressive at CHAN 2018 and now dorns the colours of Lokomotiv Plovdiv in Bulgaria have also been included.

All 4 players will be hoping to impress the coach enough to warrant a spot in the final cut of 23.

       

While it is good to see deserving home based players given the opportunity to stake a claim to be put on the plane to Russia, the final 23 man shortlist appears predictable and it would take a big and outstanding performance by any of the new faces to persuade Rohr to change his mind and drop an established household name.

Would there be enough minutes on the pitch and time for these players on the fringes to give Rohr a welcome 'selection headache'?

It is not surprising that Gernot Rohr has stuck with mainly the players he used during the World Cup Qualifiers. A squad who were unbeaten in the group of death and had already qualified for the tournament before the last game of the qualifiers.

        

But with the announcement of the provisional squads by other countries and seeing how strong they are on paper, one begins to wonder if the Super Eagles will be able to reach the minimum requirement which is the last 8. Getting there has proved elusive for Nigeria since our maiden appearance in the USA '94 World Cup.

So, who are the players likely to be left out or at best be put on standby?

Goalkeepers

Francis Uzoho was in goal for the Super Eagles in the last international break and his performance was suspect but appears to be highly regarded by Gernot Rohr. 

Ifeanyi Ezenwa from Enyimba stepped up to the plate after Daniel Akpeyi performed poorly in the AFCON qualifiers against South Africa and the world cup qualifiers in the game against Algeria. He gave a good account of himself but showed a weakness when dealing with crosses and making poor judgements like the soft penalty he gave away against Cameroon.

Dele Ajiboye could make a good case to be on the plane if he is given a game during the preparations and performs creditably well. It would mean Akpeyi gets the bullet after appearing to fall out of favour since the shambolic performance in the friendly against Argentina.

Verdict : Akpeyi should get the axe.

        

Defenders 

In the defence, Rohr shortlisted 10 players. Rohr is likely to take 8 to Russia meaning 2 players will be dropped. The central defence looks settled barring any injuries to the duo of Ekong and Balogun. This means Omeruo and Awaziem are likely going to be cover for the first choice centre backs. 

The full back positions though seem a tricky one. Shehu seems nailed on to start at right back. Ebuehi and Aina appear to be jostling for the second choice. Aina however has filled in at Left back in the past as well and will be competing with Idowu and Elderson. This is where it gets interesting.

Elderson has been poor for the Super Eagles especially going forward. His passing is wayward and his crosses aren't good enough at this level. He hasn't played for Nigeria since the Zambia game. Idowu on the other hand was impressive on his debut and scored a goal against Argentina. 

Would Rohr stick with experience or will he go for versatility and inventiveness? The only thing going for Elderson is that he is the only left footer in that defence.

Verdict : Eze and Elderson likely to be dropped.

        

Midfielders

In this department, many of the players here are untouchables and barring injuries only the fringe players like Joel Obi, John Ogu or Uche Agbo are likely to drop out. 

Mikel Agu, even though he has been poor in a Super Eagles shirt appears to be in the good books of Rohr. The reason is not far fetched. He has been a consistent performer at club level. He has however failed to transmit that form while in an Eagles' shirt. Will the world cup provide him that platform? Stranger things have happened.

Verdict: barring a performance of outstanding quality in friendlies Joel Obi is likely to miss out due to his poor performance against Serbia. Agbo should join him by virtue of his status and for never really impressing.

         

Forwards

The attacking players like the midfield is filled with the spine of the team. Full of experience, youth and energy. 

Which makes the arrival of Junior Lokosa and Simy into the frey one that has come too soon.

It has to be mentioned though that if Ighalo continues to be wasteful in the friendlies then one of these fringe players should be taken to Russia as a wild card if Rohr sees potential in any.

Verdict: Lokosa and Simy likely to join those to be axed from the team unless of course there is an outstanding performance during friendlies.