Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has defended Zinedine Zidane against critics who say he lacks tactical nous ahead of the Champions League final with Real Madrid.

Madrid have the chance to win a third straight Champions League under Zidane in Saturday's final in Kiev.

However, the World Cup winner still has his detractors who claim that while his motivational skills are strong, his tactical understanding is lacking.

But a jovial Klopp, whose own tactical awareness has been questioned in the past, talked up Zidane's qualities.

Addressing a media conference, he said: "If people think Zidane has no tactical knowledge - because people think the same about me - it would be really funny if two managers in the final had no clue about tactics. What would that say about the game?

"He has been at Madrid less time than I've been at Liverpool and made three Champions League finals. 

"He's brilliant and I unfortunately have to expect he's brilliant. This group of players together obviously work. I saw his team playing a lot of times. It's just fantastic football. 

"It's organised when it needs to be and chaos when it needs to be. I think Zinedine was his whole life a fighter. Where he grew up in Marseille you need to be a fighter. 

"I saw his face when someone asked the other day about the hunger of us or Madrid. It made him angry. All of us are different but we are both here."