"We had more chances in that time" - Mohamed Salah on Liverpool's chances in 2018 UCL final against Real Madrid if he hadn't got injured
Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah believes the Reds would've won the 2018 UEFA Champions League final against Real Madrid had he not got injured.
Salah added that Los Blancos are a great team but also said that the Reds had chances to win the game. The Egyptian suffered a shoulder injury in a tussle with Sergio Ramos. Salah was subsequently subbed off after 30 minutes and saw his team lose 3-1.
Karim Benzema had opened the scoring after a calamitous error from Reds goalkeeper Loris Karius before Sadio Mane equalised for the Premier League team. Substitute Gareth Bale restored Madrid's lead with a stunning overhead kick before adding another with a speculative long-range effort, which Karius couldn't keep out.
Gareth Bale scores two goals - including a stunning overhead kick - as Real Madrid beat Liverpool to win the Champions League, #OTD in 2018 🏆
@realmadriden | #UCLfinal https://t.co/dFWvnAPCkz
Liverpool will now have a chance to avenge that defeat when they face Madrid on May 28 in Paris in this year's final.
Salah had expressed his desire for revenge as soon as both finalists were confirmed. Ahead of the game, the Egyptian gave an interview with Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand on BT Sport. When asked if he still felt that way, Salah said:
"Yeah, I think it's in my head since, like, what happened in Kyiv, you came out the game like after 30 minutes, injury, bad one, so I was like yeah. I didn't mean it in a bad way. I just made it in a good way."
Ferdinand asked the Liverpool forward if the result would've been different had he stayed on the pitch, to which Salah replied:
"Yeah, I think we had more chances in that time, but Madrid is Madrid; they are unbelievable team. They always the best team in the tournament, all the time in the history of the tournament. They always know how to win. But I think if I continued the game, in my mind, that we could win the game."
Real Madrid and Liverpool set to clash for third time in final of biggest European club competition
While Los Blancos were the winners of the 2018 final, Liverpool pipped the Spanish side in the 1981 title match. Alan Kennedy scored the only goal in their 1-0 victory in Paris, which will also host this year's final.
the last time Real Madrid lost a champions league final was in 1981 against Liverpool in Paris, will it be a revenge or will history repeat itself
Since then, though, Real Madrid haven't lost a single final in the competition, winning seven on the trot, most recently against Liverpool four years ago.