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Real Madrid forced to release team news two hours before kick-off due to 'mole'

mirror.co.uk, 28 May 2022, 17:25
Team news is usually released an hour before kick-off while the players take to the pitch to warm up ahead of a fixture, but Real Madrid went very early on Saturday

Real Madrid were forced to release their team news a whole two hours before kick-off in the Champions League final due to fears a dressing room mole could have leaked the news.

Team news is usually released an hour before kick-off while the players take to the pitch to warm up ahead of a fixture.

But Carlo Ancelotti suspects vital dressing room information could be getting out and so has taken the decision - as he did before his side's semi-final win over Manchester City - to release the news a whole two hours ahead of the final at the Stade de France.

Ancelotti has named the same Los Blancos side that beat City 3-1 after extra time in the semi-final with Wales international Gareth Bale on the bench in what could be his final appearance for Madrid should he come on.

Bale, 32, has a history in this particular fixture after he netted twice in Real Madrid's 3-1 win over Liverpool in the 2018 Champions League final.

Bale's first was something of a gift with the error-prone Lloris Karius pawing a speculative effort into his own net. But his second, an overhead kick, was a work of art; it was quite possibly the greatest goal ever scored in a Champions League final.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp recently reviewed the 2018 defeat and discussed Bale, saying: "People in Madrid don't love him? I would love him only for this goal to be honest if I was a Madrid fan. I cannot believe that."

He added: "We all know what happened, we don't have to make this story bigger. It was of course a tragic situation 100 per cent. Loris Karius is a really, really good boy and that night didn't help. Everything we are doing is in public and the whole world has an opinion about us constantly. Usually, it's not important.

"Now in this moment if people think I'm an idiot or whatever there's no problem because I feel fine in this moment in time. But if you think about yourself 'God how could I do this' and the world is going for you that's really, really harsh. That was the case in this moment for sure with Loris."

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