Jurgen Klopp has opened up old wounds over a controversial incident which left one Liverpool player in tears on a heartbreaking night for the Reds.
The 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the 2018 Champions League final will be remembered not just for two horrendous errors from Loris Karius, but also Sergio Ramos‘ deliberate sabotage on Mo Salah which forced the Egyptian off injured in the first half, with our number 11 visibly emotional as he left the pitch.
The veteran defender also barged into the German goalkeeper at a corner kick, causing the latter to suffer a concussion which no doubt affected his performance in Kyiv.
Klopp condemns ‘brutal’ cynicism from Ramos
Klopp joined Ramos’ former Real Madrid teammate Toni Kroos on the Germany midfielder’s Einfach mal Lupen podcast when he let rip at the 180-cap Spain international over his cynical tug on Salah’s shoulder.
The ex-Liverpool manager said: “Is Mr Sergio Ramos really a good guy? He’s not my favourite player. The action was brutal. Of course, he can’t know that it’s bothering his shoulder, but we all know that he accepted it very happily.
“I could never understand that mentality. I never had players like that and, when I did, I made sure they left.”
When Kroos unsurprisingly stood up for Ramos, calling him a ‘very good teammate’, Klopp replied: “He may not be my favourite player, but it doesn’t matter. I always thought that my centre-backs were good enough not to be involved in actions like that.”
Klopp is right to still bear a grudge
Even six-and-a-half years on, Klopp is right to still feel scorned over Ramos’ actions in that Champions League final. It was a deliberate and disgusting act of gamesmanship that the referee should’ve punished, and a player of the Real Madrid defender’s abilities simply didn’t need to stoop to such a contemptible level.
We’ll never know if the outcome in Kyiv would’ve been different had Salah – who scored 44 goals in all competitions that season – not been cynically manhandled, but it definitely felt as if the momentum swung in Los Blancos’ favour once he was forced off.
The Spain international’s collision with Karius was also shameful and, in hindsight, derailed the goalkeeper’s career, as sadly his reputation never recovered from that night. That was his last competitive appearance for the Reds and he’s now a free agent at 31.
Many of us cried along with him and Salah at the end of that final, but karma did its thing a year later as the Egyptian scored the opening goal when we beat Tottenham to win the Champions League in Madrid, of all places.
