OPINION
Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane is likely to not rely upon Casemiro against Liverpool as the manager has shown a recent lack of confidence in the defensive midfielder.
The Brazilian defensive midfielder may be regularly called upon to do a job in La Liga, but the French boss has shown that he doesn’t trust him in the Champions League.
Casemiro was taken off at half-time during the second leg of Madrid’s Champions League quarter-final clash with Juventus, and then he found himself benched for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich.
In fact the defensive presence hasn’t been allowed to complete 90 minutes in any of Madrid’s last three outings in the Champions League and it seems likely that Zidane might not trust the midfielder from the start, considering it’s the final.
If this turns out to be the case then Luka Modric and Toni Kroos would be the preferred midfield pairing and both of these two talents, while impressive, leave their defence vulnerable.
Neither add an extra layer of protection to Madrid’s defence and it’s fair to say that it is something that is needed against the Reds’ potent front three.
Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino will all be able to instantly tear into Madrid from kick-off as they will be in a rampant mood to lift the Champions League trophy.
Madrid have a tendency to start games slow and concede first this season, this has especially been seen in the later stages of the Champions League.
Zidane’s side were two goals behind courtesy of Juventus in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final by the 40th minute mark, and fell behind first to Bayern Munich in both legs of their semi-final meeting.
While Madrid clawed their way back into those games, if the Reds swiftly exposed Zidane’s mistaken lack of faith in Casemiro, they could steam ahead due to a prolific strikeforce, before the Spanish giants even have a chance to recover.
This approach would see Jurgen Klopp and his side have one hand on the Champions League trophy by the time half-time came round in the final.
Therefore Reds supporters should cross their fingers that Zidane mistakenly fails to play Casemiro as it’s a mistake that will be swiftly exposed.
