Ninety minutes at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis, were enough to lower Liverpool from the pedestal of the fittest team in Europe and once again proclaim Real Madrid as king of continental football. Vinicius’ goal and Courtois’s miraculous saves put Real Madrid through the roof and plunged the ‘Reds’ fans into disillusionment, who cursed having run into the Spanish team once again.
Although the biggest disappointment was that of Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian Liverpool footballer was already a victim of the white club in the 2018 final in kyiv, a game from which he had to withdraw after an action with Sergio Ramos that left his shoulder battered.
A double stick that the attacker had crossed since then and had been in charge of remembering over and over again before the new appointment between both teams, in Paris.
As soon as Villarreal was eliminated in the second leg of the semifinals, the Egyptian was clear about the rival he wanted to meet in the final. «I prefer Real Madrid. We lost in the final against them, so I want to play and beat them », he assured.
A desire for sporting “revenge” that he repeated on several occasions and that he explained at Liverpool’s ‘media day’, just before traveling to France. “I’m very motivated. After what happened with Madrid last time, everyone is motivated to win the Champions League », he stated. “Leaving injured was the worst moment of my career. It’s something we talked about in the locker room and it allowed us to go all out for the Champions League the following year,” Salah commented on the European title they achieved in 2019.
The Egyptian was so insistent that he ended up finding an answer in the Real Madrid players. Carvajal, in a conversation with ABC, used irony to refer to the ‘network’ player’s fixation with whites. “I don’t know if Salah or Liverpool are in the mood for revenge. It is true that when you lose a Champions League final you always want to have a second chance against that same team in order to beat them. Let’s hope it’s not an important burden for Salah to lose a second Champions League final against Real Madrid.”
Perhaps it is not a burden for the Egyptian to lose again against Madrid in the Champions League. He will continue to be an important player in Jürgen Klopp’s team and a world ‘top’. But it is clear that the two defeats in the finals of 2018 and 2022, in addition to the elimination at white hands last year, have taken their toll.
Winner of several individual trophies this year for his outstanding performance, Salah posted a couple of messages on social media to share his delight at these awards. But he made it clear at the same time that he is hurt for having missed the opportunity to win the Champions League in Saint-Denis and get his revenge against Real Madrid in the process.
“Being recognized by the fans and by the sports journalists in the same season is something special that I will never forget. However, I would give all those personal awards for the opportunity to play that final again, but that’s not how football works, “he wrote on Twitter along with several photos.
“I cannot express in words how much we wanted to bring that trophy back to Liverpool, but in the end we couldn’t. I can’t thank the fans enough for their support. It’s been a very long season, but a part of me wants the next one to start again tomorrow.”
