The hour of truth is ticking for Mohamed Salah after repeatedly pledging revenge against Real Madrid
The Egyptian international Liverpool star, Mohamed Salah, is looking forward to revenge against Real Madrid, when the two teams meet tomorrow in the final match of the Champions League in the French capital, Paris, after a series of tweets and statements in the past days about his motivation to avenge Real Madrid, and that he He will not miss this opportunity.
Salah wrote on social media, moments after the Royal Club qualified for the final match at the expense of Manchester City, “there is a settlement of account,” referring to the Reds’ loss to the final of the competition against the Spanish team in 2018 in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
At the time, Salah suffered a shoulder injury in the first half when Real Madrid defender and captain Sergio Ramos dropped him to the ground, which prevented him from completing the match that he left in tears and affected his participation with his country in the 2018 World Cup in Russia because he was not in his full physical and technical readiness.
Liverpool lost the final 1-3, and Salah did not have a chance to restore and erase those bitter memories of that evening.
"It was the worst moment of my career," the 29-year-old said in a press conference two days ago. "I was really, really frustrated at that time."
"I was like 'We can't lose like this.' I've never felt that feeling before in football, especially the first Champions League final for all of us."
Salah compensated after 12 months by scoring a penalty kick that led Liverpool to victory over his compatriot Tottenham in the final match and crowning the European champion for the sixth time in its history.
But although Ramos has since moved to Paris Saint-Germain, Salah will desperately want Real Madrid to pay the price, when they meet again in the final at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday.
"I think it's time for revenge," Salah said while receiving the Sports Journalists' Award for the best player of the season in the English Premier League at the beginning of this month.
With revenge on Salah's mind, the Egypt international travels to Paris with doubts over his form, fitness and even his long-term future at Liverpool.
And he suffered an injury before the end of the first half of the FA Cup final two weeks ago and prevented him from completing it, so he missed the match against Southampton in the league, before his German coach Jurgen Klopp pushed him in the second half of the last match in the Premier League against Wolverhampton (3-1), which He scored the second goal.
His twenty-third goal in the league ended the season at the top of the scorers list, with Tottenham Hotspur's South Korean striker Son Heung-min.
This is the third time that Salah has topped the list of top scorers in the Premier League and added to it the award for best passer with 13 assists.
However, Salah's impressive performance at the start of the season, which won him the Journalists' Player of the Season award, has deserted him in recent months.
And his goal against Wolverhampton last Sunday was the 31st in various competitions this season, as his team lost its final race for the title in favor of Manchester City by one point in the last stage, and his third goal in his last 17 matches with his team and his country.
exhaustion
This weak scoring series includes the loss of his country on penalties to Senegal, his Reds colleague, Sadio Mane, in the virtuous role of qualifying for the World Cup finals in Qatar, in a repeat of the loss by the same result against the “Teranga Lions” in the final match of the African Nations Cup in Cameroon early current year.
The demands of a grueling season began to emerge even before the final in Paris, for a player rarely injured.
The caution shown by coach Klopp, whose team was chasing an unprecedented quartet until Manchester City won the league title, is understandable.
In the five seasons since his return to England, Salah scored 156 goals and played a major role in Liverpool's first Premier League title in 30 years in 2020, in addition to reaching the final of the prestigious continental competition three times.
The only cloud continuing to loom is that his contract expires at the end of next season and negotiations are ongoing, with reports that he wants to be the highest-paid player in the Premier League.
Salah confirmed this week that he will stay at least until the last year of his contract, but he refused to commit to his long-term future with the Reds.
Despite his story with Real Madrid, Real could now prove to be the most likely destination for the Egyptian international should he choose to leave Anfield.
The Royal Club needs to sign a big star to ease the burden of the promising French international Kylian Mbappe's refusal to join his ranks and his preference for extending his contract with his Paris Saint-Germain team.
Liverpool boast great attacking power, but Salah's fitness and enthusiasm will be a deadly weapon against Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, and the Egyptian star himself has clearly stated that he has not lost confidence.
He told Qatar's beIN Sports: "If you compare me to any player in my position, not only in my team but in the world, you will find that I am the best."
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