Liverpool’s threadbare midfield could be set for a massive boost at precisely the right time.

Five days after returning to first-team training following a protracted hiatus stemming from a back injury in mid-March, midfielder Emre Can’s recovery could see him in line for a return for Saturday’s Champions League final versus Real Madrid.

Following Monday’s training session at Anfield, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was asked if Can’s steady progress in his recovery could see him play a part in Kyiv. “It depends,” Klopp said, courtesy of the club’s official website.

“With Emre or players in the situation of Emre it depends on the reaction on things (but) let me say it like this: 10 days ago, I didn’t think it was possible that he could do what he did today, and that he could do what he did in Marbella already.”

James Milner, who also plays a key midfield role for the Merseyside lot, also returned to the club’s Marbella training sabbatical after missing the last match of the league campaign for precautionary reasons. Milner is set to start as part of a three-man midfield alongside Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum, though the season and World Cup-ending injury for Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain leaves the middle of the park a bit thin ahead of the continental clash between two of Europe’s most successful sides.

Should Can make enough progress to be deemed fit for the final in the Ukranian capital, Klopp could be faced with a welcome option.

“That looked good and my impression of him is really positive, but we have to wait again until tomorrow,” Klopp admitted. “But the door, of course, is open. It’s really nice to have him back in the group and he is really desperate to be part of (the final) and we will see.”

Lionel Messi finished the 2017-18 campaign with the fifth European Golden Shoe of his career, collecting the prize for the second season in a row.

The Argentinian didn’t start La Liga’s final day against Real Sociedad on Sunday – a match which also marked Andres Iniesta’s last outing for Barcelona – but still collected the award despite being unable to add to his 34 league goals when he was introduced after 67 minutes.

Messi is the first player in history to collect five Golden Boots, with longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo picking up four over the course of his playing days. The 30-year-old’s trophy cabinet will also be supplemented by a sixth Pichichi – the individual gong given to La Liga’s top scorer.

The Golden Boot isn’t ranked purely on goals, instead relying on a points system to recognise Europe’s most potent finisher. Each strike tallied in one of Europe’s top five leagues is worth two points – meaning Messi finished the season on 68 – while goals in supposedly lesser leagues are given a weight of 1.5 or 1. Benfica’s Jonas scored as many as Messi in the 2017-18 term, but the Primeira Liga’s pull of 1.5 points per goal left the Brazilian veteran on 51 points and ninth overall on the list.

Messi’s greatest rival for the Golden Boot was Mohamed Salah, who struck 32 Premier League goals in his debut season with Liverpool. The Egyptian was also prolific on the continent, with his 10 Champions League goals beating Messi’s count by four.

Barcelona almost romped to an unbeaten league season under Ernesto Valverde, but many critics pointed to the singular brilliance of Messi being the chief reason the club eased to its 25th Spanish title. In addition to his 34 goals, Messi contributed 12 assists and was a notable absentee during the Blaugrana’s only La Liga defeat, a 5-4 reverse at Levante last Sunday.

There was “a little trickery” implemented to increase the chances of France and Brazil meeting in the 1998 World Cup final, according to disgraced former UEFA president Michel Platini.

Platini, who is serving a four-year ban from football involvement following the 2015 guilty verdict regarding a “disloyal payment”, was the co-president of the World Cup organising committee in 1998, which France hosted.

In an interview with France Bleu Sport, the former French international revealed group allocations for seeded teams were deliberately arranged to produce a “dream” final featuring the host nation and defending World Cup champion Brazil.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

“When we organised the schedule, we did a little trickery,” he said, as translated by BBC Sport.

“France-Brazil in the final, it was the dream of everyone.

“If we finished first in the group and Brazil finished first, we could not meet before the final.”

He laughed as he went on: “We did not spend six years organising the World Cup to not do some little shenanigans. Do you think other World Cup hosts did not?”

Because Brazil was placed in Group A, which was standard practice at the time for the World Cup holder, France’s allocation to Group C ensured the two nations could not before the final if they both finished first in their groups, as was widely expected.

France went on to finish above Denmark, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia in Group C before getting past Paraguay, Italy, Croatia, and capturing the country’s first-ever World Cup with a 3-0 win over Brazil in the final at the Stade de France.