OPINION
Liverpool will not have been thrilled to hear the name of the referee appointed to officiate their Champions League final against Tottenham.
Jurgen Klopp’s side will be looking to go one better than last season, where they were beaten in the final by Real Madrid, when they face fellow Premier League side Tottenham in the Champions League final in Madrid.
Liverpool booked their place with a dramatic semi-final second leg comeback against Barcelona, but could not produce a similar unlikely triumph on Sunday as Manchester City beat Brighton to win the Premier League title.
That means the Reds sole hopes of ending what has largely been a very impressive season with a major trophy is the forthcoming Champions League final against Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham.
However, those chances may have been dealt a slight blow, by the appointment of Slovenian referee Damir Skomina, who was officially revealed by UEFA to officiate the Champions League final at Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano stadium.
The significance of this appointment is that Liverpool do not have a good record in games which Skomina has officiated before, with the Reds winning just one of their past five games where the Slovenian has been the referee.
That was evidenced during the first match Skomina officiated for Liverpool, which saw the Reds lose 2-1 at home to Italian side Fiorentina in the final group game of a poor 2009 Champions League campaign, that saw them finish bellow both their Serie A opponents and Lyon.
Other more recent matches that the Slovenian has officiated for Liverpool include a loss against Turkish side Besiktas in the Europa League Round of 32 in 2015, as well as the Reds’ 4-2 defeat at Roma in their Champions League semi-final second leg last season.
Liverpool will be hopeful that this time the referee can provide the Reds with a little more fortune, as they look to end the season on a high by lifting the Champions League trophy – although there might already be a mental stumbling block to overcome.
Klopp has already lost two Champions League finals, one with Borussia Dortmund against Bayern Munich at Wembley in 2015 and then last seasons edition against Real Madrid, he will be determined not to lose a third this campaign.
