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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Callum Vurley

Vinicius Jr makes request to Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp ahead of Champions League final

Vinicius Jr has told Jurgen Klopp to put out his best team possible when Liverpool take on his Real Madrid side this Saturday.

The Reds have the chance to exact revenge on the Spanish giants in Paris after their defeat to them in the Champions League final in 2018. Liverpool have since gone on to win the trophy while Real Madrid have been in the wilderness.

But under Carlo Ancelotti, Los Blancos have roared back into the fold after knocking out holders Chelsea and Manchester City along the way. To claim the top prize, they will have to beat the Premier League's other top-three team while the Reds might be missing some key players.

There are serious doubts over Thiago Alcantara after he was taken off at half-time against Wolves on the final day of the Premier League season. The likes of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Fabinho have all had injury issues recently as well.

Without all four, Liverpool would be massively weakened which would hand a huge advantage to Real Madrid. That would give those at the Bernabeu some encouragement - but not Vinicius Jr - who would rather face a full-strength opponent than a diminished one.

When asked about Liverpool's injury situation, the Brazilian said: "Hopefully they play with all of them. We want an amazing match between two teams with all their players. With 100 per cent concentration. And both fighting for the most important thing, which is the Champions League.

"We watch a lot of Liverpool games. They are a great team with a lot of strength and a lot of intensity. If we match that against them... we will win for sure."

Real Madrid might have put in one of the most iconic displays in recent memory with their 6-5 victory over City in the semi-finals. Rodrygo came off the bench to score twice in injury-time to take the match to extra-time.

Karim Benzema scored a penalty just five minutes into the added-on 30 minutes to send Pep Guardiola's men home and Vinicius Jr has stated that he is hoping for another spectacle. When asked what he wanted, he added: "A great game like all the games in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

"They were exciting for us, but they were beautiful games. Now we have the match every player wants to play. We have the privilege that almost all the players here have played in many finals and that’s reassuring for us. Hopefully it will be a great game."

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