You may remember journalist Diego Torres from the highly entertaining exposé of Jose Mourinho's time at Real Madrid entitled The Special One. While Mou maintains that Torres wrote fiction, he is a highly respected El Pais journalist with some very strong contacts within the Madrid dressing room.
Ahead of this Saturday's Champions League final, Richard Fitzpatrick of Bleacher Report courted Torres' opinion of the mood in Madrid as Real get ready to meet with the looming, dominant European figures of, eh, Dejan Lovren and Loris Karius.
"There isn't any sensation of fear in Madrid about Liverpool—among the directors, among the players," says Torres. "They're relaxed in Real Madrid before this final. They've never been so calm and confident in the club before a final than now. This final is the easiest final they have in front of them, all of them—Florentino Perez, the captains. Everyone".
While Liverpool are largely lauded as European aristocrats, their record pales in comparison to Madrid's. The holders are going for their thirteenth title, with Cristiano Ronaldo aiming to draw level with Liverpool with five wins.
None of the players in the Liverpool dressing room have actually won the competition, with Jurgen Klopp the only man connected with the club with any prior experience of the final.
Madrid will undoubtedly be favourites, but if Liverpool fans want to cling to superstition, there are a few omens in their favour. The last time they won the European Cup, they knocked out the English champions-elect en route, with the European Cup final taking place after Manchester United lost the FA Cup final to the recently-deposed English champions.
Plus, all of Liverpool's European Cup final wins have come in red against teams wearing white (although this omen failed them against AC Milan in 2007). While Madrid have an exceptional record in European Cup finals, the last time they lost one was in 1981...against Liverpool.
Oh, and two of Liverpool's Cup wins - 1981 and 2005 - came in years in which the Prince of England got married.
Although by Torres' words, it sounds that not even the royalists in Madrid are going to be perturbed by these omens.
Read the full Bleacher Report piece here.
