Zinedine Zidane has told
Liverpool his Real Madrid team are hungrier than ever to win the
Champions League, despite clinching the title in three of the last four
years.
Real are gunning for an unprecedented third consecutive
success in the competition on Saturday while Liverpool have reached the
final for the first time since 2007.
"No one can tell us we are less hungry," Zidane said. "I
can't speak for our opponents but we want to stress we will always have
the same motivation, the same as always, no one can tell us we are less
hungry than the rest.
"We are Madrid and despite what we have, we always want more, and we will give everything to get even better."
Real's
experience at the deep end of the Champions League dwarfs that of this
Liverpool team, who do not have a single player to have made it this far
before.
Zidane also has his own personal achievements to draw
upon, having won the most coveted prize in club football three times as a
player and manager combined.
"It's true I lived 18 years as a
player inside the changing room, with many coaches, with many players,
with just as much ego as me," Zidane said.
"I know the changing room and I know the mind of a player and that is an important thing for me, but it is not the only thing.
"I am not the best tactician, but I have other things - passion, motivation - and those are worth much more."
Some
have billed this weekend's showdown as a contest between Cristiano
Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah but when asked if he would swap Ronaldo for
the Liverpool forward, Zidane simply replied: "No."
On Ronaldo's influence on the final, Zidane said: "The most possible. He is the best so it will be the maximum."
Zidane
would offer no clues as to his starting line-up in Kiev but he did
ackowledge the excellent form of Gareth Bale, who has scored five goals
in his last four starts.
"He is playing very well, he has scored
many goals recently," Zidane said. "Not only that but he has been very
consistent. He has not played so much, but the last three games he has
played he has played well."
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