LONDON – We have a score to settle,” Mohamed Salah posted on social media moments after Real Madrid set up a re-match with Liverpool in Saturday’s UEFA Champions League final.
Salah’s first appearance in European club football’s showpiece game came to an agonisingly premature end in Kyiv four years ago.
The Egypt forward made a tearful first-half exit after suffering a shoulder injury in a challenge with Real defender Sergio Ramos, who was accused of cynically slamming his opponent into the turf.
Madrid went on to win 3-1 and Salah has never been able to shake the bitter memories of that night.
“That was the worst moment in my career,” the 29-year-old said at Liverpool’s pre-match media. “I was really, really down in that time.
“I was like: ‘We cannot lose this way.’ I never felt that feeling before in football, especially the first Champions League (final) for all of us.”
Salah made amends 12 months later, scoring a penalty as Liverpool beat Tottenham to be crowned European champions for the sixth time.
But even though Ramos has since moved on to Paris Saint-Germain, Salah would dearly love to make Real pay when they meet again at the Stade de France this weekend.
“I think it is revenge time,” Salah said according to Reuters as he picked up his award as the Football Writers’ Association player of the year earlier this month.
While Salah has retaliation on his mind, he travels to Paris besieged by concerns over his form, his fitness and even his long-term future at Liverpool.
His 23rd goal of the Premier League season against Wolves on Sunday meant he finished as the joint top-scorer in the competition alongside Tottenham’s Son Heung-min.
It is the third time he has topped the charts and he added lustre to his season by also finishing as the top provider of assists.
Yet the stunning early-season form that secured Salah the writers’ honour has deserted him in recent months.
His 31st club goal of the campaign as Liverpool narrowly lost out to Manchester City in the Premier League title race on Sunday was just his third in his past 17 games for club and country.
That run includes a defeat on penalties against teammate Sadio Mane’s Senegal in a World Cup play-off, a repeat of the result in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year.
The demands of an exhausting season are beginning to show even before the final in Paris, for a player who is rarely injured.
Salah was forced off early in Liverpool’s FA Cup final victory over Chelsea and did not start either of their final two league games to ensure he was fit to face Madrid.
The caution shown by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, whose side were chasing an unprecedented quadruple until they were pipped to the league title by City, is understandable.
In five seasons since returning to England Salah has scored 156 goals, playing a huge role in Liverpool’s first Premier League title for 30 years in 2020, as well as their runs to three Champions League finals.
One persistent cloud on the horizon is that his contract expires at the end of next season and negotiations have dragged on, with reports that he wants to be the Premier League’s highest-paid player.
Salah confirmed this week that he would at least see out the final year of his deal, but refused to commit his longer-term future to the Reds.
Despite his history with Madrid, Real could now prove the most likely destination should he choose to leave Anfield.
Los Blancos are in need of a superstar signing to soften the blow of being turned down by Kylian Mbappe, who has decided to remain at PSG.
Liverpool boast impressive attacking riches but a fit and firing Salah would be a huge weapon against Carlo Ancelotti’s Real — and the player himself has clearly not lost confidence.
“If you compare me with any player in my position, not only in my team but in the world, you will find that I am the best,” he told BeIn Sports.
Former Liverpool star Steve McManaman said that his old club deserves to be hailed as English football’s greatest ever team if they beat Real Madrid in the Champions League final on Saturday.
Having already won the FA Cup and League Cup, Klopp’s side face Spanish champions Real in Paris with a treble in their sights.
Liverpool narrowly missed out on a potential quadruple when Manchester City pipped them to the Premier League title by a single point on the last day of the season.
But the Reds can still cap an incredible season by winning the club’s seventh European Cup at the Stade de France.
McManaman, who starred for Liverpool in the 1990s and also won two Champions Leagues with Real Madrid, believes that would lift Klopp’s men into rarified air as the finest English side of all-time.
“For Liverpool to get three trophies and accumulate 92 points, having played every single game possible. I think that would be the greatest achievement, I really do,” McManaman told AFP.
“I think they should be ranked as the top. To get 92 points, in any other season, that effectively wins you the league. If Liverpool had got 50 points I wouldn’t be making this statement.”
McManaman is well aware of the rival claims to be considered the best ever, but he insists none would surpass Liverpool if they emerge from a marathon 63-game campaign with three pieces of silverware.
“Of the teams that have done the treble, everyone considers Man United in 1999 to be the best because they won the Champions League and the Premier League,” he said.
“It is a marvellous achievement. But when you look at it, they got knocked out in the League Cup quarterfinals.
“When Manchester City did it in 2019, they got knocked out in the Champions League quarterfinals. Even when Liverpool did it in the 80s, with that incredible team, they got knocked out in the FA Cup fourth round by Brighton.
“You will have Man United fans saying ‘he’s talking rubbish’. But when you put it all into context, I think it’s the best.”
Klopp has dubbed his players “mentality monsters” and McManaman sees that unwavering focus as the defining characteristic of their success.
“That relentless nature. They just keep marching forward. They are like machines and that’s hard to do in modern-day football,” he said.
While McManaman talks up Liverpool’s place in the history books, the 50-year-old concedes there will be frustration in Klopp’s squad if they finish such a remarkable season with only two trophies.
Liverpool also have revenge on their minds after losing 3-1 to Real in the 2018 Champions League final, as well as being eliminated by them in last season’s quarterfinals.
“They need to win this game otherwise there will be a tinge of disappointment,” said McManaman before unveiling a street art mural outside the Stade de France.
The mural, on behalf of FedEx, showcases the defining moments of this season’s Uefa Champions League, a journey McManaman expects to end in Liverpool glory.
“It won’t be a failure but they will have missed an opportunity to win this incredible trophy,” he said.
“In 2018 Madrid were probably favourites because of their experience. They had been there and won these type of games. But Liverpool now are so successful, they are favourites for this game.
“We all know they have their tour around the city on Sunday. It is an occasion to be proud of but, god bless them, you would want to go on that tour with the Champions League in your hands wouldn’t you?”
Saturday’s clash stirs emotional feelings for Liverpool-born McManaman, who scored for Madrid in their 2000 Champions League final against Valencia in Paris.
“It brings back some lovely memories. I scored a goal, which is nice, but particularly when you win the game. It was quite surreal,” he said.
“I have divided loyalties of course. I’ve got too many friends in both camps and you want them to be happy. But I feel Liverpool are the better team. I think they will win and I want them to win.”
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