A few weeks ago, before the final was defined, Mohammed Salah gave interviews after qualifying against Villarreal. He maintained that, ‘I prefer Real Madrid. We lost in the final against them, so I want to play and beat them.’ Already when it was defined that the Madrid team would be his rival, he sentenced, ‘is it a mission of revenge? Yes. We lost in the 2018 Champions League final and it was a sad day for all of us. It’s time for revenge’.
The desire for revenge has to wait, because Real Madrid, with little arrival at the rival goal, offered a great tactical game and a lot of defensive effort for the people of Madrid to deactivate Liverpool’s attacks. In addition, he had an inspired Thibaut Courtois who saved everything to win the victory thanks to Vinicius Jr.
After the final, Thierry Henry analyzed the match on CBS. First of all, he spoke about Karim Benzema and threw a dart at France Football, ‘I just wanted to say something for France Football or whoever is voting. Close the voting, the Ballon d’Or has been won by Benzema. Bye!’.
However, the one who did hit him very hard with his words was Mohammed Salah who spoke before his time. Prematurely, he challenged Real Madrid and mentioned that it was revenge, ‘I always say it. Never talk before a final. Beat Real Madrid and then you speak and say: ‘it was revenge’ and all that. When you speak before a final, you have to win it’, he sentenced.
Likewise, he spoke about the importance that falls on the goal defended by Thibaut Courtois, ‘I have said it many times. This is about getting the ball into the net. Madrid had one and scored it. Liverpool had many, but they were up against Courtois. Remember what I told you in the semifinal. People don’t give Courtois the credit he deserves. He is one of the best in the world and better than Ederson. He has shown it tonight.’ The Belgian was sensational to save nine balls, and he was the enemy of Mohammed Salah who could not violate it.
