goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois knows that his side are in for a very tough test against Liverpool in the final, but believes the Spanish side will be fresher and better rested than their opponents in Paris.
The Belgian stopper was excellent as his side pulled off the dramatic win in Spain, scoring twice in injury time to force extra time in the second leg, before a Karim Benzema penalty secured a 6-5 win on aggregate.
Real now go on to meet Liverpool on 28 May in Paris and it is going to be a big challenge against ’s superb side.
Courtois accepts that it is going to be very difficult, but feels his team are in the advantageous position of having wrapped up the La Liga title and having no other cup competitions to worry about.
Real have just four more league games to play before the Champions League final, none of which have any significance, although their next clash is the Madrid derby which will always be hard-fought.
In contrast, Liverpool have four Premier League games, all of which they expect to have to win to have a chance at the title, while they also meet Chelsea in the FA Cup final before taking on Real Madrid.
‘Liverpool are playing really amazingly this season, so it will be a really hard game,’ Courtois told beIN Sports.
‘The only good thing for us is that we aren’t playing anymore for anything, we can rest really well for that game, whereas they are playing for the Premier League, so for them it will be a bit harder.
‘But we just need to keep training well and do our best and hopefully win it.’
Meanwhile, Liverpool may be more stretched but they are fuelled by a revenge mission after the Reds lost to Real in the 2018 Champions League final.
The memorable game saw calamities from Loris Karius and brilliance from Gareth Bale, and Mohamed Salah says the Reds want revenge.
After knocking out Villarreal in the first semi-final, Salah was asked which of City or Real he wanted to meet in the final and said: ‘‘Well yeah, I want to play Madrid. I have to be honest.
‘City is a really tough team, we’ve played against them a few times this season. But if you ask me personally, I would prefer Madrid.’
‘Asked if that was to get a little bit of payback, Salah laughed and replied: ‘Because we lost in the final against them, so I want to play against them – hopefully we will win it!’
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