Neil Humphreys: The Champions League final has already been won
Spurs and Liverpool are right teams in the right place
Only Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur can stop this season from being remembered with an asterisk.
So far, every major trophy has come with a caveat.
Liverpool | Tottenham Hotspur |
This has been the campaign of the big fat "but".
The Europa League was an all-London affair with a rip-roaring finale for Eden Hazard, but it was played in a half-empty stadium in a distant oil-rich state with a dubious human- rights record.
Chelsea won, Azerbaijan won, but the jury is still out on the game itself.
In England, Manchester City made history, but has there ever been more begrudging praise for a trophy clean sweep before?
The Citizens won the first domestic treble with the limitless funding of a distant oil-rich state with a dubious human- rights record. Sounds familiar?
It should. This was the year when "sportswashing" slipped into the psyche, when the football was often less important than the finance and the game felt in need of a good spring-cleaning.
Thank heavens, then, for Liverpool and Tottenham. May they reign in Madrid and shower us with the gifts that they keep on giving.
Was that too flowery? Of course it was, and unapologetically so. When the game's moral compass is being held by the American billionaires behind Liverpool and a Tottenham chairman so miserly he makes Scrooge look like Bill Gates, then you know beggars can't be choosers.
In a season where so much felt instinctively wrong, everything about the Champions League finalists just feels right.
Both clubs are benefiting from their "Moneyball" principles, initially laid down by Damien Comolli.
Ironically, the director of football was sacked at both clubs and the analytical approach to recruitment was dismissed as Hollywood fantasy.
But Comolli signed Danny Rose and lined up Hugo Lloris at Tottenham.
He also signed Jordan Henderson for Liverpool, where the Bostonian owners embraced Moneyball economics to sign Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson. They were all data-driven buys.
PRAGMATIC
In an era when panic-stricken spending is the norm, Liverpool and Tottenham's pragmatic approach to understanding a footballer's value beyond branding and match-day stats has paid dividends.
At Tottenham, chairman Daniel Levy took the fundamentals of Moneyball to extremes. He didn't buy anyone, relying on the foundation he'd already established and a coaching genius to guide Spurs through the rocky road to a new stadium.
Both clubs demonstrated that a sensible budget and value-for-money signings could be a match for anyone in an industry of unchecked gluttony.
But that's the statistical stuff, the dollars and cents issues that win over the minds of accountants everywhere. Liverpool and Tottenham captured hearts, too.
Traditional storytelling dictates that the final act requires both a protagonist and an antagonist, but the Champions League final has no villains in the dugouts.
Mauricio Pochettino brings understated dignity. Juergen Klopp brings uncoordinated dance steps. Both men bring likeability.
In this season alone, Pochettino handled enough problems to fill a career's worth of Jose Mourinho press conferences - the stadium delays, no signings and Harry Kane's injury.
But Pochettino endured, relying on two weapons to prevail: his impudent charm and his ability to turn water into wine.
The Argentinian is in a league of his own. Almost.
Unbelievably, he must share the accolade of being "the most likeable manager in world football contesting a Champions League final" with someone else.
Klopp remains a bizarre cross between a battalion commander and a beaming model in a toothpaste commercial. Everyone in Liverpool loves him. Everyone else would love him at their club.
He has spent mornings playing lawn bowls with Liverpool retirees to get a sense of the local community. As other managers go bigger, he goes smaller, looking within for ways to conquer.
Both sides insist on a distinct brand of attacking football. Both coaches like to promote from within. Both clubs operate within vaguely sensible budgets.
Both teams would be worthy winners.
If nothing else, a decent final will provide a "sportswashing" service in the purest sense, cleaning up a season that has been too grubby, too often.
May the best men win? It's guaranteed. The best men are already in the final.
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