This year’s Champions League final will be a special one. Not only will this be an all-English team final—the first since Manchester United faced Chelsea in 2008 final—this is also a chance for both managers to enhance their already stellar reputations.
For Tottenham's Mauricio Pochettino, this will be an opportunity to lay his hands on the first piece of silverware in his managerial career, and for Jürgen Klopp, an opportunity to overcome a heart-breaking loss in the final last year, and narrowly missing out on the Premier League title.
Both teams made comebacks in the semifinals to reach the final, with Liverpool beating Barcelona 4-0 miraculously in the second leg, and Tottenham beating Ajax 3-2 in Amsterdam to overturn a 1-0 loss at home.
Since Pochettino was brought in as manager from Southampton in 2014, he has enjoyed only mixed success with Spurs. While he has developed incredible talents such as Harry Kane, Dele Alli, and Christian Eriksen and put together one of the most cohesive squads in world football, his failure to win anything so far and his track record of poor cup runs is damaging his reputation.
This will be Klopp’s first piece of silverware as Liverpool boss, too. Since taking over mid-way through the 2015 season, Klopp has done wonders to resurrect a side that seemed to have lost its way after Luis Suarez’s move to Barcelona.
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Klopp has been astute at making signings, and in the previous summer transfer windows, has made some valuable additions to his squad such Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson Becker. Alisson has proved himself to be an excellent keeper so far, and is comfortable enough on the ball to play a crucial role in build-up play. Van Dijk has proven himself to be one of the best centre-backs in world football right now. His team has developed into a force to be reckoned with, combining solid defence with fast, fluid and positionally disorienting attacking play, with their spectacular front three. They have also recently acquired the tactical astuteness to pull back and sit deep, easing up on the Gegenpress if required.
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Pochettino has been his polar opposite in this regard. Other than bringing in Lucas Moura (whose second-half hat-trick in the second leg of the semifinals against Ajax sent Spurs to the finals), he has deemed fit to stick with a squad definitely weakened by the departure of Moussa Dembele, who played a key role in the team with his ability to dribble out of tight spaces and cutting through passes. Moussa Sissoko seems to have stepped up to fill in, and has been excellent this season and has definitely turned his career around. Pochettino is content to stick with his core group of players, who are well adapted to his system and have consistently played together for a considerable period of time. His system built around attractive attacking play and high pressing is dangerous in its own right, if trio of attacking midfielders is given space and the full-backs are allowed to move into high vertical spaces.
Pochettino, however, does not have a great track record against Klopp. They have faced each other nine times so far, and Liverpool have won four times, and only one match ended in a victory for Spurs. They last faced each other on March 31 this year, with Klopp emerging victorious by 2 goals to one. Nevertheless, the final promises to be an exciting and close-fought one, especially considering the fact that Spurs do not seem to know when to give up, and have pulled off victories against sides like Manchester City, who beat Liverpool to the Premier League title.
Injuries, however, could play a decisive role. The fitness of Spurs talisman Kane is in doubt. While the void his possible absence might cause can be filled by one of either Lucas Moura, Fernando Llorente or Heung Min Son, his clinical instincts will be sorely missed.
This final promises to be quite as mad as the participants’ road to reach it, and will be a welcome change after Real Madrid’s dominance in the Champions League over the past three seasons. It will also decide once and for all Pochettino’s and Klopp’s legacy. Will they be remembered as legends, or the ones who repeatedly fell short of the finish line?
