Cristiano knows what’s at stake in Champions final
Even more than the team as a whole, two men can enter history when Real Madrid faces Liverpool in the current season great final of the Champions League. Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane could grab some astonishing records if the white team gets crowned as the best of the European competition.
Cristiano Ronaldo will look for his fifth Champions League title when Real Madrid face Liverpool in the final that will be played next Saturday May 26 in Kiev. Winning, said the striker, would be amazing. "I'm confident, I feel good, I think my teammates are just the same. To win the fifth (Champions) would be tremendous," he exclaimed at the idea of becoming the first player in history to harvest five titles of the most important club tournament, after he was crowned with Manchester United on one occasion and three with Real Madrid. "It would be a historic moment. We are excited. If everything goes well, we will enter history", said Cristiano Ronaldo enthusiastically during the Open Media Day of Real Madrid held on Tuesday at the Club's Sports City.
There is no doubt that for Cristiano Ronaldo, top scorer of the competition with 120 goals, the Champions is a "special" tournament. "I love playing this competition. We always live special moments, there are always great matches. Paris, Juventus ... You have to play against the best," said Cristiano Ronaldo, who did not want to choose the most special moment he has lived in the competition this season - although he ended up referring to the first chilena goal kick of his career in victory 3-0 over Juventus in the first leg of the quarterfinals.
In regard to facing Liverpool, top rival of his former Manchester United team, Cristiano said he would have "preferred Manchester", while warning that Liverpool should be respected, a team that reminds Real Madrid of the 10th. "I do not think we have it easier. They have made merits to be here. It reminds me of Madrid three or four years ago. The three above, very fast ... It has power up, I respect them. But Madrid is better,” he said. On the same line, Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane is one step away from joining Marcello Lippi and Fabio Capello as the only ones to have managed three consecutive Champions League finals. He has won the first two, "with a lot of suffering", he says, and aspires to take the third title.
The one will distinguish him from the rest. In his short career as an elite coach, he has never lost a final. He is already one of the most successful technicians of the merengue team, with 70.3% of victories in 148 games after 104 wins, 28 draws and only 16 defeats in 148 games. "Someone can tell you that nothing happens in a wardrobe if they do not get along and it's silly.” Ring any bell Cristiano?