Champions League Final: Which Formation Should Zidane Use For Real Madrid?

#3 Formation: 4-3-3 (4-4-2 without the ball)

Will we see BBC start?

Personnel: Bringing the good ol' BBC back, one last time. Shuffle Kovacic for Casemiro to add offensive salt as per your taste.

Let's admit it. This could be the last chance for the once famed Bale-Benzema-Cristiano (aka BBC) to start together and redeem themselves. For all we know, Salah could be on his way to the Bernabeu this summer while Bale heads back to England.

Meanwhile, Benzema could get involved in yet another controversy before Perez loses his patience and banishes his favourite child out of the Madrid capital for his theatrics off the pitch and lack of producing anything scintillating on it. If they're splitting, they might as well play together.

All the sentimental stuff aside, purely on objective terms, this formation is best suited for Real Madrid given the occasion, magnitude of the game, opponent's style of play and highlights of Madrid's strongest suits.

The Gala XI with BBC upfront used to be unbreakable. How times have changed. Bale isn't to be blamed for his injuries. The Welshman has been and is the second best player or maybe the third best player on this squad purely in terms of offensive firepower that he adds - when he is fit.

But that's the problem, half the season he's unfit. Benzema has taken the criticism meted out to him from the fans, the French national coach, and media too much to his heart that he's forgotten how to score goals.

Benzema often offers more than Ronaldo. That's why he stays on the team sheet. It's that simple. He is like the turbocharger Ronaldo needs to get into in his unicorn mode.

No other player is as selfless as him and no other player makes Ronaldo more lethal just by being present on the field. His off-the-ball movement, hold-up play, drawing defenders out of position, passing and quick link ups inside the box and telepathic understanding with Ronaldo are brilliant, to say the least.

In Bale, Real Madrid have a seriously legitimate second goal scoring threat. It helps take the burden off Madrid's talisman. Bale is brilliant on counter-attacks. He is still one of the fastest players.

He can single-handedly finish off a counter-attack and, boy, does he love running past defenders. Bale is a big-game player. In fact, if he's played in his preferred formation as he's still very much capable of, he could carry his side to a win in Kyiv.

Real Madrid have looked their sharpest in this formation, unlike any other. This system brings out the best in all. Maybe that's the reason Zidane used it for one-and-a-half years? Time to revert back to the tried and the tested?

Another argument that can be made is inserting Asensio and Vazquez on either wing while Ronaldo plays as a central striker. It can get the work done, but it is highly doubtful whether they can put in elite performances for a good 70 minutes before getting subbed off.

They don't have the understanding or off-the-ball movement into space quite like Benzema and Bale. Vazquez is brilliant at dribbling and crossing but falls short in the goalscoring department.

If Ronaldo is having an off day or he is shackled by Virgil van Dijk, Los Blancos will be out of their wit and it might be too late before Bale and Benzema are introduced to fix things.

Asensio & Vazquez are also great at running at tired legs, which will most likely be the case unless Jurgen Klopp feeds his player's some miraculous energy drink at the break that restores their energy levels.

BBC has been the key to dismantling sides that try to outfire Los Blancos in terms of offensive firepower. By all means, this tie is going to be an end-to-end affair and Real need the balance that Casemiro brings in snuffing out attacks, while the front three take care of the business on their end.