REAL MADRID DEFENDER Marcelo has revealed the intense anxiety he felt before playing Liverpool in the Champions League final in 2018.

The left-back started and played the full 90 minutes as Real Madrid ran out 3-1 winners, courtesy of two Loris Karius howlers and a Gareth Bale overhead kick.

However, he explains how fearful he felt in the build-up to the game, experiencing an anxiety he had never before suffered with, recalling a troubling thought he had shortly before the game started.

If I have to die out here tonight, f*ck it. I’ll die.’”

“The pressure was the most intense before the Liverpool final,” Marcelo told The Players’ Tribune.  

“Maybe people will think that is strange. We had already won two trophies in a row. Everybody on the outside wanted Liverpool to win. So what’s the problem? 

Well, when you have a chance to make history, you feel that weight. But for some reason, I was really feeling it. I had never had such intense anxiety before, so I didn’t know what was happening. I thought about calling for the doctor, but I was worried that he wouldn’t let me play.

“And I had to play, 100% I had to prove something to myself. 

“It felt like I had something stuck in my chest. This huge pressure. I am not talking about nerves. Nerves are normal in football. This was something different. I am telling you, brother, it felt like I was suffocating. 

“Everything had started the night before the final. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I was thinking only of the match.

“A little bit of nerves is normal in football. I don’t care who you are, if you’re not feeling anxious before playing in a final, you’re not a real person. You’re just trying not to s**t your pants. It’s the truth, brother! 

“So I was sitting at my locker, struggling to breathe, and I thought to myself, ‘How many kids in the world play ball? How many of them dream of playing in a Champions League final? Millions. Calm yourself. Lace up your boots, brother.’

“I knew that if I could just make it out to the pitch, I would be okay. For me, nothing bad can happen on a football pitch. You could be growing up in chaos, everything could be going crazy around you, but if you have a ball at your feet, you stop thinking. Everything is quiet, peaceful. 

When I finally stepped onto the grass, I was still having trouble breathing, and I thought, ‘If I have to die out here tonight, f*ck it. I’ll die.’”

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