Spanish International Sergio Ramos has finally responded to the criticisms he received because of the controversial challenge to Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah in the UEFA Champions League Final.
The Real Madrid captain was at the heart of several talking points as his side beat Liverpool 3-1 to win a third successive Champions League trophy.
He hauled the Liverpool forward to the ground in the first half something many people saw as a deliberate planned move to hurt Liverpool’s leading scorer.
Salah initially tried to play through the pain but was forced off with a shoulder injury, bringing a sad tearful end to his remarkable debut season.
The Real Madrid defender who overnight became one of most hated player on the continent told the Pre-World Cup media set Programme earlier yesterday that he believes he’s being wrongfully accused and the tackle he made wasn’t intentional.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Bloody hell, they’ve given this a lot of attention, the Salah thing…I didn’t want to speak because everything is magnified,”[/perfectpullquote]
he told reporters this week.
“I see the play well, he grabs my arm first and I fell to the other side, the injury happened to the other arm and they said that I gave him a judo hold.”
Ramos, who consoled a tearful Salah as he left the pitch went on to tell reporters that the same injury happened to him in the past but he played through it.
“He could have played if he got an injection for the second half, I have done it sometimes but when Ramos does something like this, it sticks a little bit more. The good thing is that I spoke with Salah through messages [and] he was quite good.”
“I don’t know if it’s because you’re at Madrid for so long and win for so long that people look at it a different way.” He added.
On the claims that he also elbowed Liverpool’s keeper Loris Karius, Ramos gave a sarcastic response saying, it was only Firmino left to say that he got a cold because a drop of his sweat landed on him.
Liverpool’s chances of winning the champions league were damaged by Salah’s withdrawal, a feat many up to today blame on Ramos.
The good news is the forward made Egypt’s final squad and could feature in the Pharaoh’s first game against Uruguay. He is making steady progress and recently posted a picture on twitter working out his damaged shoulder with a resistance band.
