Real Madrid will be ‘scared’ of the prospect of facing Liverpool in the Champions League final, says former Chelsea and England star Graeme Le Saux.
Madrid are favourites to win the competition having won it in each of the last two seasons, however must first beat Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich if they are to reach the final in Kiev next month.
Should Los Blancos reach their fourth final in five years, they will take on either Liverpool or AS Roma, who meet in the other semi-final.
And Le Saux believes Zinedine Zidane’s side will be praying for a Roma win should they make the final.
“I think Liverpool are the team to beat,” he told Goal.
“The fact Liverpool blew City away in the first leg, playing with such style and then when under a lot of pressure this week, stayed so composed for the win means they are the form team in my eyes.
“They were magnificent and their campaign was summed up by that Mohamed Salah goal.
“They showed composure and so much self-belief and I think they will go into the semis feeling very confident of going through to the final.
“However, while they’ve got the draw they probably wanted and you feel Bayern Munich or Real Madrid may have presented a tougher challenge.
“Roma are by no means easy-beats and what they did to Barcelona shows that they can’t be written off and have the ability to come back as well if they are down.
“Perhaps the only thing to be wary of for Liverpool is how big this is for the club and for Klopp.
“They have to make sure they don’t get spooked by the size of the reward and lose the attitude they’ve had the whole way through.
“However, they are the in-form team of the four. Bayern Munich didn’t pull up any trees in the second half of their quarter-final, while Real Madrid were taken right to full time by Juventus.
“Liverpool were the most convincing by far.
“I think if we get a Liverpool vs Real Madrid final then Real will be very scared and I have no doubt Liverpool could do it.
“The only caveat of course is Cristiano Ronaldo – obviously he can do seemingly impossible things and he is capable of being a one man team if needs be.
“But Liverpool are playing better as a team and I think the trophy is theirs for the taking.”
