The Liverpool team that walks out of the tunnel to play Real Madrid in the Champions League at the National Sport Complex Olimpiyskiy on May 29 will be the polar opposite to the one fielded the last time the two sides met.
Having been paired in the same Champions League group, Liverpool were soundly beaten 3-0 by the 12-time European champions at Anfield.
Brendan Rodgers decided to ring the changes and rest the bulk of his first-team squad for the visit to the Bernabeu, resulting in an incredibly weak starting XI for the game on 4 November.
In goal, Simon Mignolet was in between the sticks, playing behind a poor-looking back four of Javier Manquillo, Kolo Toure, Martin Skrtel and Alberto Moreno - the latter is the only member of the backline still playing for the club.
A midfield trio comprised of Liverpool legend Lucas Leiva, the soon-to-be departing Emre Can and Rodgers' favourite midfielder, Joe Allen.
Completing the second-string side was a front three of Adam Lallana, Lazar Markovic and Fabio Borini - the definition of a toothless attack.
With such an inferior XI, literally everyone was expecting Liverpool to get a good hiding but surprisingly they acquitted themselves pretty well and only lost 1-0 - Real's goal coming through Karim Benzema 27 minutes in.
A dire European campaign, with only one win recorded, saw Liverpool drop into the Europa League - where they were immediately knocked out by Besiktas as the round of 32 stage.
Fast forward to the present and Liverpool go into their eighth European Cup final having scored a record-breaking 46 goals - with the frightening front three of Salah, Mane and Firmino notching 29 between them.
While they are playing a Real side who have reached three finals on the bounce under Zinedine Zidane, with that all-conquering trident up top, they have a real chance of adding a sixth European Cup to their trophy cabinet.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Liverpool, Football News, Football, Brendan Rodgers, Champions League, Liverpool FC, Real Madrid
