A Real Madrid player has accused Liverpool star Mohamed Salah of showing “disrespect” ahead of the Champions League final on Saturday.
The Reds take on the La Liga giants in Paris this weekend and it is the third time in five seasons that they have reached the competition’s showpiece event during Jurgen Klopp’s tenure.
Salah made headlines earlier this month when he expressed a desire to face Real Madrid in the final. His comments came after Liverpool beat Villarreal and before Madrid faced Manchester City in their semi-final second leg.
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The Egyptian told BT Sport: "I want to play Madrid, I have to be honest. City is a really tough team, we played against them a few times this season.
"I think personally, I would prefer Madrid. We lost in the final to them so I want to play against them and hopefully win it."
After Madrid came back from the brink to beat City in the second leg, Salah then put on social media: “We have a score to settle.”
He was then asked about the final after winning the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year prize. He said: "It’s revenge time. They beat us in the final last time. It was a very sad day for all of us, so yeah."
Salah’s comments were made in reference to Liverpool's defeat to the Spanish side in the 2018 final in Kiev - a game in which he came off with a shoulder injury that followed a foul by Sergio Ramos.
But Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde has labelled the remarks from Salah as “disrespectful”.
"Obviously they're words that everyone can take however they want," Valverde told Spain's 'Club del Deportista' magazine and published by Marca.
"I'm his opponent and it's like disrespecting the Real Madrid badge, the players.
“The only thing we must do is give our best, try to show why we're in the final and let's hope we can give another trophy to the fans and to Real Madrid."
