Karim Benzema claims Real Madrid will look to exploit the high line tactic deployed by Liverpool
Speaking in an interview, as quoted by Liverpool Echo, Karim Benzema spoke about how Liverpool could play in the UEFA Champions League final and the one tactic his team will look to take advantage of in Paris.
The Reds made their way to the final after topping the group of death and then overcoming Inter Milan, SL Benfica, and giant-killers Villarreal. And they now take on 13-time European Cup/UCL winners, Real Madrid in the final on 28th May.
Karim Benzema was their hero against PSG and their main man in the comeback win against Manchester City in the semi-final of the competition this season. The Frenchman has been in amazing form for Los Blancos and is arguably one of the frontrunners for the 2022 Ballon d’Or.
With 44 goals and 15 assists in 45 games across all competitions this campaign, the ex-Lyon man will be the man LFC need to watch out for this weekend. And the 34-year-old is already planning on how to exploit Liverpool’s defence by targeting one of their key tactics.
“It’s a great team, very intense, that plays with high pressure. We’ll have to defend well. They throw the line very high and we’ll have to take advantage of it.”
Stick to the gameplan
Benzema, of course, haunted Liverpool back in the 2018 UCL final in Kyiv when he latched onto a loose pass from Loris Karius and scored for Madrid. The Reds lost 3-1 that night but now have a chance at revenge.
However, they have to be wary of Madrid’s forward line on counter tacks. It is no secret that Klopp’s men play a high line where they try and catch opposition attackers in an offside position.
This helps the Reds build pressure on the other team, not giving them too much room to pass the ball around in midfield and constantly forcing their frontmen to check their runs time and again- or run the risk of being caught offside.
But if there is no pressure applied on opposition midfielders and attackers, they can then find a pass to set one of their teammates free in behind our defensive line. With Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr’s pace, our backline needs to be on its toes at all times against the La Liga champions.
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Benzema can link play up well and has shown that his positioning inside the box makes him one of the best in the business even at this age. The Reds have now been sent a warning by him- it now remains to be seen how they react to it.