When you see Manchester City or Chelsea celebrating a goal or lifting the Champions League trophy on Saturday night, images are going to be centred around the emotion of key moments and the adulation which comes from players achieving the biggest goal of their club careers. Character and ability have played the biggest part in getting the two Premier League giants to Porto at the weekend, but skill using the ever-growing array of football boots should also get some attention.
As the Champions League final approaches, Betway ranked their top 10 final moments in showpieces over the years, and it makes for extremely interesting reading. Those of a certain age grew up with a widespread choice when it came to football boots, and that is reflected with different brands contributing throughout the nineties and 2000's. However, Betway highlights how the "cult brands" are no longer as popular as they once were, particularly among the players who have stolen the limelight in cities around Europe.
Many people's personal favourite will be the iconic Adidas Predator boot, as worn by Zinedine Zidane when netting the volley of all volleys for Real Madrid against Bayer Leverkusen in 2002. It was one of those goals where you will remember where you were when the Frenchman's ludricous effort hit the back of the net. Not enough is made of the assist from Roberto Carlos, who won a duel on the side of the penalty area to give Zidane his moment. Would we all hold the legendary midfielder in such high regard if he had not scored that famous goal at Hampden Park? Who knows, but one thing that we should not forget is that it was achieved wearing Adidas Predators, the standard black boot which was deemed cool when the likes of Nike, Puma and Diadora were using what felt like every colour imaginable to sell their own designs.
When looking through Betway's rankings, you will see that the famous Adidas tongue over the top of the laces is no longer as prominent as it once was, but players of Manchester City and Chelsea will have full confidence that their respective boots will stand them in good stead as they attempt to create their own slice of history. Betway have priced City as the 7/8 favourites to prevail at the Estadio do Dragao in Portugal, and they will prove to be attractive betting odds given their domination in the Premier League and efficiency shown in seeing off Paris Saint-Germain in the last four.
