Mohamed Salah has revealed that he had a private meeting with Jurgen Klopp to motivate himself after Liverpool were beaten by Real Madrid in the 2018 Champions League final.
Liverpool will face Carlo Ancelotti’s side in the Champions League showpiece on May 28 at the Stade de France in Paris after beating Villarreal 5-2 in the semi-final. The game will be a repeat of the 2018 final in Kyiv, which saw Real win 3-1 thanks to a goal from Karim Benzema and two from Gareth Bale.
The game is remembered for Bale’s impact off the substitutes’ bench and Loris Karius’ disastrous performance in goal in what turned out to be his last ever game for the club. But it also harbours bad memories for Salah, who was forced off with a shoulder injury in the first half following a rough challenge from Sergio Ramos.
The nature of defeat in Kyiv was hard to take for Salah, but he says that Klopp provided him with the impetus to bounce back. Liverpool won the competition the following year, beating Tottenham 2-0 in the final, and are back in the biggest club match in the world later this month.
"You just feel so disappointed, so down," Salah told Sky Sports of the period after the loss to Real four years ago. "'Ah come on, not in this game!' But once you have time, it makes you forget.
"I had work affairs and then I had a holiday after. In that holiday I just asked, what do you want? To keep crying about it and be sad about it and it takes you down? Or you just fight back. And I fought back in the best way and that's why we're here now.
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"We had a meeting after and the manager talked to us in pre-season. We were so hungry to win the Champions League the year after and in the Premier League we were very close as well. I think it had some benefits also, not everything was good losing that final but we had benefits."
It initially appeared as though Liverpool would take on Premier League rivals Manchester City in the Champions League final after Riyad Mahrez’s 73rd-minute strike in the semi-final had Pep Guardiola’s side 5-3 up on aggregate. But Rodrygo’s two late goals sent the tie to extra-time where Benzema won it with a penalty.
Real’s comeback win suited Salah, who was open about his desire to face the Spanish giants in the final. "If you ask everybody [at Liverpool], everyone wanted that game," he said. "I don't know why we're not allowed to talk about it but I'm ok to talk about it - I wanted that game! I wanted to play Real Madrid before that game.
"Of course, I'm not giving too much credit to them. They're an unbelievable team with a great coach, great players. When they asked me who I wanted, I said Madrid. It's an easy answer."
