Usually players are coy about giving away too much when quizzed about potential opponents, but not Mohamed Salah.
When he was asked after Liverpool’s comeback against Villarreal to book their place in the Champions League Final on May 28 which team he wanted to play in Paris, he could not have been more definitive. Never mind the desire in this country for another all-England final against Manchester City and the prestige that would have earned the Premier League, he wanted Real Madrid.
And the reason is obvious, he wants revenge for 2018. As agonising as it was for Liverpool to lose the Premier League title race to City by a point in 2019 after being so brilliant, the 2018 Champions League Final remains an open wound for Salah.
