Mo Salah knows exactly who he wants Liverpool to face in the UEFA Champions League final. Manchester City face Real Madrid on Wednesday.
Mohamed Salah helped Liverpool into their third UEFA Champions League final in five years on Tuesday evening. The Egyptian couldn’t get onto the scoresheet but he did manage to split open Villarreal’s defence for the Reds’ first goal.
And it was a goal they needed. A brilliant first half from the home side cancelled out Liverpool’s 2-0 first-leg lead. Some half-time alterations made a big difference, however, as Jurgen Klopp tried to get his side back onto the right track.
Salah was the one who really started the momentum, though. He managed to get Fabinho in behind Villarreal’s defence and the Brazilian powered it home for 2-1. That put Liverpool back ahead on aggregate – and it was only up from there.
Luis Diaz soon found another goal before Sadio Mané took advantage of a very high line to score the third. All three goals came in a mad 12 minutes that simply won the tie.
And so it’s onto the final, where Liverpool will face either Manchester City or Real Madrid. While both Virgil van Dijk and Jurgen Klopp waved away the thought of having a preferred opponent, Salah felt he had to be honest when asked.
“I want to play Madrid, I have to be honest,” he told BT Sport. “City is a really tough team, we’ve played against them a few times this season.
“But if you’re asking me personally, I would prefer Madrid. Because we lost in the final in 2018! So I want to play against them and hopefully win it.”
Mo Salah wants Liverpool vs Real Madrid
That would be our pick, too – and not only because we’re sick of playing City. Avenging that night from 2018 would be incredibly cathartic and feel like a massive statement from the team.
That was a game that Liverpool just couldn’t win, with Salah’s injury and some infamous mistakes robbing the Reds of any opportunity. Now, however, they might get the chance to correct it.
We’ll be crossing our fingers, along with Salah.