Most of Liverpool is playing it safe when it comes to who they want to face in the club’s 10th European Cup final on May 28 in France.
Not Mohamed Salah.
The Egyptian star, 29, decidedly wants a measure of revenge on Real Madrid after being injured by Sergio Ramos in the 2019 final, which saw the Reds deprived of a sixth European Cup. They’d get it the following year against Spurs.
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So Salah is hoping that Real Madrid overcomes its 4-3 first-leg deficit to Man City when the two sides meet Wednesday in Spain.
“I want to play Madrid,” Salah said. “I have to be honest. City is a really tough team but if you ask me perfectly, I prefer Madrid because we lost in the final. So I want to play again and hopefully win it.”
And Salah is taking things one round at a time but is also not hesitating to profess his desire to lay claim to a quadruple by adding the Champions League, Premier League, and FA Cup to the already-won League Cup.
“Yeah, for sure,” Salah said. “Maybe not in the beginning of the season because I’m always honest and I always focus on the Champions League and the Premier League, but now we are close for everything so why not? ... After we beat City in the semifinal of the cup [he thought the quadruple was possible], but in the Champions League after the group stage I said okay we are going to win [the UCL] this year.”
"It's great to be in the final for the third time in five years."
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) May 3, 2022
"I want to play Real Madrid, I have to be honest."
"Hopefully we'll win it from them as well."
Mo Salah has his heart set on mending Liverpool's 2018 #UCL heartbreak 😤 pic.twitter.com/2MhLfMgYjv
Van Dijk is non-committal on preference
Virgil van Dijk isn’t so sure he has a preference as to who should be across from him in the final, and it’ll sound salient to Man City fans that “VVD” is worried about a red-hot center forward in Karim Benzema.
“Any team that we face in the final of this competition will be a nightmare to play against,” Van Dijk said. “We know City but they know us too. We know how intense those games are. Real Madrid is Real Madrid. Such a big club and an in-form striker. ... If you listen to us and the manager that is obvious we don’t think about [the quadruple]. You can dream but you need to be realistic. Football is small margins.”
And Trent Alexander-Arnold is just happy he can watch the second leg of the Man City-Real Madrid tie knowing his side’s already into the final.
“It is always nice to get the job done on Tuesday, We can watch the game tomorrow knowing we will be there. Either opponent deserves to get to the final.”