Real Madrid vs Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp defends Zinedine Zidane against accusations of his lack of tactical nous

Zidane has been criticised for being little more than a figurehead of the Real squad

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has come out in defence of Zinedine Zidane’s tactical nous as a manager, calling his Real Madrid team “a good type of chaos” ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final.

In Zidane’s two and a half seasons in charge at the Bernabeu, he has won two Champions League titles and is about to participate in his third, against Liverpool in Kiev.

Despite this imperious form in Europe – he also won La Liga in his first full season – his ability as a coach has still been questioned, with many insisting Real’s dominance is down to the players having Zidane as a figurehead to manage the egos, rather than any ground-breaking tactical decisions.

But Klopp refused to give these accusations time in his pre-match press conference in Kiev on Friday, admitting that he receives a lot of the same criticism, before calling the Frenchman one of the top five players to ever play the game.

If people think Zidane does not have knowledge of tactical things, that is funny,” Klopp said. “People think the same about me. It would be funny if both coaches in the final have no clue about tactics.

“I have said it before. He was one of the best 5 players ever and is now trying to win his third Champions League. I unfortunately have to expect that he is brilliant.

“I have seen his teams playing many times and they play brilliant football. It is chaos but a good kind of chaos. But it is football and we will have an opportunity as the other team.”

This is Liverpool’s first Champions League final since 2007 and their third final under Klopp altogether – losing both the League Cup and the Europa League on those occasions. In contrast, this is Real’s fourth final in five years, and third in a row, all of which they have won, but Klopp insists that the Reds have the strength to overcome their opponents’ vastly greater experience.

“Experience is important,” he added. “Before the game they will be more confident than us. But that is not important. We have prepared and analysed.

“But they have not played us. We are Liverpool. Nobody expected us to be here but we are, because we are Liverpool. We have had the most exceptional run with the most goals ever scored. The experience is an advantage but we have to make it as difficult as possible.”