While Liverpool will be focusing on the Premier League title race for now, their attentions will quickly turn to their Champions League decider against Real Madrid next week.
It is set to be a hugely intriguing tie. While Jurgen Klopp's side will enter as slight favourites, the Spanish champions have shown that they are more than capable of of pulling off an upset in this year's competition. They were the less fancied side in each of their knockout ties this season, overcoming PSG, Chelsea, and Manchester City en-route to Paris.
Real Madrid might not have the level of talent that Liverpool do across the team, but Rafael Benitez believes they still have enough to cause plenty of problems for the English club.
Speaking to AS, the 2005 Champions League winning boss said that Liverpool will have to set up their team with three opposition players in mind.
Real Madrid have relied on the experience of their midfield to take advantage of [Karim] Benzema’s quality and movement, alongside Vinicius [Junior], but Rodrygo or [Eduardo] Camavinga have also provided energy and balance for the team when they have played.
It’s obvious Benzema, Vinicius and now Rodrygo will be the players to watch for Liverpool.
The players make the difference on the pitch but the coach also plays an important role preparing, drawing up the game plan and choosing the most suited team. And then they can reinforce what has been done well or change things if something goes wrong during the game.
Now being able to make more substitutions, the quality on the bench is key. The advantage for the coach especially coaching big teams is that he can make "good substitutions" because he has better players on the bench.
Benzema has been in remarkable form this season, scoring 44 goals and registering 15 assists in all competitions. Vinicius Jr is also a hugely dangerous player, while Rodrygo was the one that kept the side alive late in the semi-final against Manchester City.
Liverpool will surely have a plan to deal with the trio, although they rarely deviate too much from their regular game plan. That should leave plenty of space in behind their defence, with the question of whether Real Madrid can exploit that likely to be a deciding factor in next week's decider.
