This Friday, former Brazilian player Rivaldo spoke about his expectations for the Champions League final and revealed that he believes in a victory for Borussia Dortmund over Real Madrid. The decision will take place on June 1st, in Wembley, England.
“I’ve been saying for a long time that the final would be Real Madrid x Borrusia Dortmund. And I said that the champion would be Borussia. I think Madrid are the favorites, without a doubt, but Borussia are coming strong for the title, and they’ve already shown who knows how to play in this competition, who knows how to play difficult games. We saw this in the two games they played against PSG, winning the first and second semi-final matches. Yes, Real Madrid are the favorites, but I think Dortmund will be champions.” , said Rivaldo in an interview with Betfair.
The Barcelona legend also spoke about the dispute for the Ballon d’Or, which rewards the best player of the season, and said that striker Vinicius Júnior is ahead of Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, from Paris Saint-Germain.
“Vinicius has a great chance of winning the Ballon d’Or. He’s already doing very well, he deserved to be there last season. Now he’s among the three best players in the world. And this year, with what he does at Real Madrid, with the way he plays… he undoubtedly has a good chance of being the best player in the world. And beating Mbappé in this trophy”, said the former midfielder, who won the award in 1999.
Both athletes won the national leagues of their respective teams’ countries. However, the Brazilian managed to reach the Champions League final. While the Frenchman was eliminated in the semi-final of the tournament against Borussia Dortmund, with a lackluster performance in the two knockout games.
This season, Vinicius Junior played 36 games in the current season, scored 21 goals and distributed 11 assists. Mbappé participated in 46 matches, scored 43 times and made ten passes on goal.
Finally, Rivaldo commented on the situation of midfielder Casemiro at Manchester United, in which the athlete has been heavily criticized by the English press, and stated that it was a mistake for him to leave Real Madrid in 2022.
“He was doing very well at Real Madrid. In my opinion, it was a wrong decision to leave Real Madrid for Manchester United. I think he was having a very beautiful story within Real Madrid, but of course the economic aspect at that time weighed more than On his side, I think he went for the economic aspect. Casemiro is a midfielder, he’s not a striker, he doesn’t decide games, he doesn’t appear as much as if he were a striker, that’s why people criticize him, but in my opinion he’s not to blame, because Manchester is already coming from difficult situations”, concluded Rivaldo.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
