Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says he regards Champions League final opponents Real Madrid as equals.

This is Liverpool‘s third Champions League final in five years and Klopp is attempting to win the trophy for a second time — the club’s seventh in total. They have been given a boost by key midfielders Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara proving their fitness.

Real, who Klopp believes are slight favorites, have won their last two meetings — the 2018 final and the quarter-final last season — but the German is adamant Liverpool are on a par with the Spanish giants in terms of pedigree.

Liverpool‘s manager said: “If you look at the history of the club, the experience of the other team and if you look at the way Real Madrid celebrated comebacks, then I would say Real Madrid is the favorite.

“But actually I want us to be on the same level, these kinds of things — thinking we are at the same level. I want us to be ourselves in this game. If we are on the top of our game, we are difficult to play — that is my only concern at the moment.

“I want us to be confident as well. The confidence level of the Madrid players is incredibly high but we are not here by surprise. We did not buy a ticket to reach this stage. We are a good side.

“The world we are living in means we get judged by the final result,’ said Klopp. ‘If you are a football person, then you know what my boys did this season is exceptional. But in the end it is all measured by the color of the medal you get. That is how it is. We are ready.”