Having played for both clubs and also played under Carlo Ancelotti, Jurgen Klopp is the only aspect of this final that Xabi Alonso doesn’t have first-hand experience of.
Speaking with BT Sport ahead of the Champions League final, the 40-year-old discussed his memories of playing against our boss: “Jurgen, I have played many times against him, he’s intense and he’s passionate.
“I think that one of his best qualities is that he’s able to get the best from his players and he’s then able to then commit in a very generous way and create proper teams.
“I love when Jurgen says that they [his players] are ‘mentality monsters’ because to do what they are doing is not easy, it’s not just a this year thing – it’s something they have been doing for the past few years.
“They have that mentality but I don’t think it matters in the final, to get to a final you need that mentality and Madrid are the other mentality monsters, so it’s a big, big clash that we’re going to enjoy”.
Many will love the adoration of our manager from a former club hero but maybe not the comparisons of our team to our Paris opponents.
It would have been great to see how the German could work similar magic to that of Thiago Alcantara, on our former No.14 and got him to work in his style of play.
You can watch Alonso’s comments on Klopp (from 3:43) via BT Sport on YouTube: