Real Madrid vs Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp’s Reds better than my 2005 Champions League winners, says Rafa Benitez

Liverpool’s Champions League winning manager Rafa Benitez believes the team Jurgen Klopp is taking to Kiev on Saturday to face Real Madrid in the competition’s final is better than the one he led to victory in 2005.

Benitez masterminded a dramatic success in Istanbul, bringing his side back from the dead at half-time against favourites AC Milan when they trailed by three goals, before winning the trophy in dramatic fashion on penalties.

Liverpool then, as now, were unfancied to see off Chelsea and Juventus on their way to the final, so the underdog theme is not new to the Spaniard, who was in his first season at Anfield when he led the club to the European Cup final.

But he reckons Klopp has a side that has been more assuredly built and is better prepared for victory when they face Real on Saturday evening.

“I think this one is better,” said Benitez. “They talk about the miracle of Istanbul but this team is better. So, if we talk about the money spent my budget was £20m, £20 millions. The value of this team is so much higher and they have had so many more years when they have been spending a lot of money.

“The difference between the Premier League and the other leagues is the intensity of the games. Liverpool and their offensive players, their midfielders, their defence have the intensity to hurt you if they do it well.

“No I don’t think so (that Liverpool rely on Mo Salah as much as his side did with Steven Gerrard). They have a good balance. Everyone was talking about their defence but they spent some money on defenders.

“They are strong in the middle and they have three players up front who can score goals. To be fair Salah has done really well but all Liverpool’s forward line, Mane and Firmino can score goals against any team.”

Real were the club Benitez grew up supporting. They were his mother’s team and he joined them as a young player, his career as a player cut short by knee injury. He managed there briefly before being sacked and he admitted there are deep feelings for both clubs.

When asked what colour shirt he would be wearing when the final takes place, he said: “Grey!”

“Real Madrid have experience and they have some good players,” he added. “It will be interesting. On one side you will see a Liverpool team with lots of passion and intensity and a lot of pressing and crossing and fast counter-attacking against a team with a lot of the qualities needed to manage this kind of situation.

“Real Madrid is good team, obviously. They have more experience and they have the quality and the balance. When we were there we were trying to get some new, young, quick and fast players to make a difference, to give us something different but now they have players like Marco Asensio, young players with energy and Casemiro has come through. They have become essential. They have young players with energy and who keep a balance.”

Can Liverpool win in 2018, he was asked. “I’ve said before, Real Madrid has the experience and the quality to match them but Liverpool can do it,” he added. They have the intensity and the quality, the passion, the desire, but sometimes in these kinds of games it’s just one mistake and then you pay for that.

“It’s how do you manage this pressure. Real Madrid have been managing this kind of pressure for a while and Liverpool are in a new situation but, at the same time, they have the energy, the passion, the desire. Tell me the difference? The timing of when you can score. Can they maintain the intensity.Yes. Can the other side manage the intensity of Liverpool. Yes. So I think it’s a fine balance.”