The 2017/18 Champions League final was billed as a confrontation between Mohamed Salah of Liverpool and Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid.
The latter had a quiet night by his own high standards and had a header saved before taking too long on a one-on-one chance before being tackled. However, at least Ronaldo managed to play the full 90 minutes, lifting the trophy at the end despite being overshadowed in the goal scoring department by Gareth Bale.
Sadness for Salah
The night did not go as well for Salah, who looked lively in the opening exchanges as Liverpool got on top of their opponents. Marcelo did not know what had hit him in the first 20 minutes and Salah looked primed to either score or create a goal for Liverpool.
What happened next had a huge influence on the flow of the game and possibly Egypt’s chances at the 2018 World Cup.
Source: metro.co.uk
Midway through the first half, Ramos challenged Salah inside the Real Madrid half of the field and won the ball. However, it was the way the two players fell which caused damage to Salah’s shoulder and although he tried to continue, the former Roma man was forced to leave the field injured.
Adam Lallana came on to replace Liverpool’s top scorer but Liverpool were not the same team after Salah’s departure and they went on to lose the match 3-1.
A Deliberate Act?
As fans and pundits looked at the replays of the incident between Salah and Ramos, people started to question the merit of the challenge. Many onlookers started to comment on the nature of the tackle and if Ramos deliberately pulled Salah down with his own body weight on his shoulder in an attempt to injure the player.
Whether it was a premeditated attempt to get Salah out of the game, only Ramos will truly know but the aftermath of the challenge has been immense.
A petition has been set up to get Ramos banned following the incident and there have been over 500,000 signatures. This may seem a little extreme given the number of fouls committed in football matches around the world on a daily basis but the impact Salah’s injury had on the final was felt by everyone watching.
Threatening Calls
In addition to the petition, a report in the Daily Mirror, suggests Ramos has been forced to change his phone number having received threats over the challenge.
The article states, ‘According to COPE Network, both Ramos and his family have been receiving threats, meaning they have all had to change their numbers.’
Clearly this is going too far given it was just one challenge in a football match but Salah has won many friends in the footballing world thanks to his tremendous performances this season. However, the best way to back Salah now is to wish him well in his recovery and cheer him on in the World Cup for Egypt.