Xabi Alonso Chooses His Ideal Champions League Final Opponents

Having played a major role in arguably the most memorable Champions League final of all time, Xabi Alonso knows a thing or two about what makes a dream final and now the Spanish midfielder has named his dream opponents for this year's showpiece event.

Alonso and his Bayern Munich teammates emphatically booked their place in the quarter-finals of this season's tournament with a 10-2 aggregate humiliation of Arsenal and now Alonso, who will retire at the end of this season, has identified the opponents he wants to face the most should the Bavarians reach the final in Cardiff, this June.

Not only does Xabi Alonso collect trophies for a living, he's also one of the coolest footballer's to ever grace the Beautiful Game...

Speaking to Radio Onda Cero, the Liverpool legend named another of his former clubs as the team he wants to line up against in the Millennium Stadium.

"A Bayern-Real Madrid final would not be bad.

"I think Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are the strongest so facing them later [in the tournament] would be better."

Alonso lifted the trophy in 2005, scoring the equalising goal in Liverpool's breath taking comeback victory over AC Milan in Istanbul, where Rafa Benitez's men hauled back a 3-0 half time deficit to eventually defeat Paolo Maldini and co on penalties.

Xabi Alonso

The magic number. Alonso scores Liverpool's third and equalising goal against Milan, in Istanbul. Image: PA

The Spaniard was also a Real Madrid player when 'Los Blancos' lifted 'La Decima' - their tenth Champions League title, following a 4-1 victory over city rivals Atletico, in Lisbon. Alonso was suspended for the final, however.

One more Champions League victory would be a fitting way for the 35-year-old to bring the curtain down on a glittering career which has also brought with it two European Championships and a World Cup with Spain, an FA Cup, two Bundesliga titles, a DFB Pokal, a La Liga title, two Copa Del Reys and 114 international caps.

(H/T Yahoo! Sport)

Topics: Football, Xabi Alonso, Champions League, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid

Joe Baiamonte

Northerner. Assistant Editor of SPORTbible. Studied Journalism and Broadcasting in a portakabin on a car park of Salford University for three years. Believes football peaked with Serie A in the '90s and strong-arms pro wrestling references into as many articles as possible. Neymar once took 50 euros off me during a game of poker.

@JoeBaia