Real Madrid are the bookmakers’ favourites to win today’s game and, perhaps in that knowledge, Carlo Ancelotti spent much of his pre-match press conference at Wembley yesterday urging his side not to take today’s game lightly.
“A Champions League final is the most important game and the most dangerous one,” Ancelotti said. “It is a double-edged sword, we need to enjoy it to the maximum, and then concern starts that it could go wrong because we are so close to the most important thing in football, which is winning a Champions League.
“There is a fear, a concern out of that. It is a feeling we all have inside. We have extreme happiness, but you have to be a bit lucky, play well and never lower your guard but when you reach a final success is so close that you start worrying.
“It is going to start tonight, tomorrow morning, tomorrow afternoon. A lot of fear, it is normal. If you have more fear you will be happier if you are able to win in the end.”
First appeared on www.nytimes.com