Colombian’s form, pace and freshness mean he deserves to start Liverpool’s Champions League final with Salah and ManéLiverpool v Real Madrid will be decided by the finest margins, so it is good news that Jürgen Klopp has one of the finest forward lines in Europe available to him. Whichever combination he picks would be top-class but I think he will select a front three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and Luis Díaz.Salah has unfinished business after being forced off early on with a shoulder injury the last time these teams met in a Champions League final in 2018. That will be a powerful influence on a player who, after a long season, needs to find a last bit of energy...
Pieces were falling into place for an unlikely triumph but now Jürgen Klopp’s thoughts must turn to Champions LeagueThere is nothing quite like the noise of a goal being scored elsewhere: the isolated explosion from whoever saw it flash up on their phones or heard it on their radios, first rippling out, the doubts almost audible as the wave spreads. Really? Manchester City behind? Could it be true? Then the scramble for confirmation, the celebration hovering uncertainly. What about VAR? Might it yet be ruled out? Then word coming through that City had kicked off again, that the goal stood, that this might actually be happening.In the end it did not, but for 80 unlikely minutes it seemed as though...
Will City or Liverpool be champions? Burnley or Leeds to go down? And surely Spurs won’t lose at Norwich … will they?This season’s final-day title battle will have an air of familiarity as Manchester City look to pip Liverpool to the post for the third time in the last decade. Steven Gerrard will be in the opposition dugout at the stadium where the greatest finale of all played out 10 years ago. Folklore is in the air, but Pep Guardiola might feel frustrated that it has come to this. City could have few complaints with their draw at West Ham, digging in to rescue a vital point after a disastrous first half – but had Riyad Mahrez scored his late...
General-in-reserve never looked like a man losing a football match – as the club continue chase for the quadrupleWell, it was always going that way wasn’t it? At St Mary’s, Jürgen Klopp picked a fever dream of a Liverpool first XI for the penultimate game of the Premier League season, then saw his team fall behind after 13 minutes needing to win to take this pursuit of the sun, the chase for the quadruple, to the final day. And still, somehow, it never really seemed in doubt.This Liverpool team has too much energy to stop now. And while it seems only right to point out the pursuit of the league title is still heavily asterisked, that it isn’t in Liverpool’s...
FA Cup was decided by the width of a post but Chelsea were beaten by a side that ensure tiny margins make the differenceImagine, for a moment, you are the goalframe at the east end of Wembley. Last summer you watched as Marcus Rashford, at the climax of that sulphurous July night, took a straight run-up, stuttered, and then, as Gianluigi Donnarumma fell to your left, dragged his penalty to your right.You like the young man, his obvious decency, his stance on various social issues – and you are an English goalframe after all. You wanted him to score. You tried to just stretch a bit further, to widen your stance, but your feet were rooted and the ball cannoned...