Liverpool v Real Madrid: Mohamed Salah out for vengeance in Champions League final
Key takeaways:
- 'This group of players is amazing.'
- Mohamed Salah's Champions League final reason was summed up in a six-word tweet posted moments after Real Madrid finished a dramatic resurgence against Manchester City to set up a meeting in Paris.
"We have a score to settle," revealed Salah, a star of few words but hardly able to hide the hint of threat in his message to the team liable for the worst night of his Liverpool career.
When Liverpool faces Real Madrid in the Stade de France on Saturday, remembrances of a balmy May night in Kyiv four years back - when Jurgen Klopp's team was defeated 3-1 - will be painfully revived for Salah.
That evening in Ukraine had many striking images, from the sight of Liverpool goalie Loris Karius alone and in tears at the final whistle after his catastrophic performance gifted Real two goals to the acrobatic bicycle kick from Gareth Bale to place Real on the path to win.
But for Liverpool, it was the sight of a weeping Salah getting a consoling pat from Cristiano Ronaldo. He walked off heartbroken after just 30 minutes, following a lousy tangle with Real's enforcer-in-chief Sergio Ramos that encapsulated the agony.