The needle between Real Madrid and Liverpool has increased ahead of their Champions League Final meeting on Saturday, following something of a verbal spat between Mo Salah and Federico Valverde.
In reality it was a fairly one sided exchange with Valverde taking rather innocuous comments from Salah a little too seriously.
Speaking after Liverpool’s defeat of Villareal on May 3rd, Salah commented on his happiness at facing Real Madrid in the Champions League final, rather than Manchester City.
I want to play Madrid, I have to be honest. City are a really tough team, we played against them a few times this season, but I think if you ask me personally, I would prefer Madrid.
Because we lost in the final against them, I want to play against them, and hopefully win against them.
Liverpool, and in particular Mo Salah, have unfinished business with Real Madrid after they were defeated in the final in 2018.
During the match Salah had to be substituted after just 31 minutes following a heavy challenge from Sergio Ramos, which severely injured the Egyptian’s shoulder.
Despite Salah not mentioning any animosity towards Madrid for the injury, Valverde took the comments as a slight towards Madrid when speaking with with Spain's 'Club del Deportista' magazine.
Obviously they're words that everyone can take however they want. I'm his opponent and it's like disrespecting the Real Madrid badge, the players... The only thing we must do is give our best, try to show why we're in the final and let's hope we can give another trophy to the fans and to Real Madrid.
The first thing to do is thank the fans, because when the game seems lost, when you can't find spaces, the team isn't feeling good, the fans are always there to support us. That gives us a plus, an energy that you can't explain. The game isn't over until the referee says so.
The biggest one was against City. It's very difficult to go through again when you're losing in the 89th minute, you blink and you're winning. They're things that don't happen often in life."
In a regular season, Liverpool would be considered significant favourites to take home the Champions League trophy, given their record this year's in competitive Premier League and the relative weakness of this season's La Liga.
However, given the consistent late goals and minor miracles Madrid have produced in this season’s Champions League, against PSG, Chelsea, and Manchester City, it would seem futile to bet against them.
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