If there was one particularly motivated player in the Saint-Denis final, it was Mohamed Salah. Liverpool’s crack wants Real Madrid as a rival to eliminate the thorn of the 3-1 defeat received at the kyiv Olympics in the match that decided the 2017-2018 Champions League, but a massive Thibaut Courtois prevented it.
In that final, Salah was left in the game half an hour into the game, with a score of 0-0, when he injured his right shoulder in a ball fight with Sergio Ramos. Now the Egyptian has completed 90 minutes, but if then his executioner was the Andalusian center-back, this time it was Courtois.
Up to five times the Belgian goalkeeper prevented Salah from opening the scoring or, already 0-1, from taking the final to extra time.
Salah tried at first
Nearly a quarter of an hour passed when Courtois, in a display of reflexes, took with an impressive hand the low shot in Salah’s half-turn after a cross from the right by Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Two minutes later, Courtoi didn’t have to show off to block another shot from Salah in two stages after receiving a back pass from Mané. Even before the break, the Real Madrid goalkeeper didn’t have to work hard to prevent a header from Liverpool’s ‘11’.
Courtois outscored himself in the second half
But it was in the second half that Courtois certainly frustrated Salah by two unusual saves. The first of them was in the 64th minute when he deflected a whiplash threaded from outside the area into a corner that slipped mid-height against the post (64 ‘).
Salah insisted and relentlessly searched for the goal. A new shot from him, deflected by Diogo Jota, did not dismiss Courtois, who again sent him into a corner (80 ‘).
The last Egyptian attempt found, if possible, the most outstanding-only replica of Courtois in the whole battle. He came eight minutes from the end, cracking Liverpool to take a long ball with quality against Ferland Mendy and the hero of the night at Saint-Denis as long as he took it with his right arm.
There is no goal in the finals this season
Salah finished the season with two titles, the FA Cup and the English League Cup, in addition to the Premier League Golden Boot shared with Son Heung-min (Tottenham) with 23 goals, but he was unable to be decisive in any of the finals.
Salah lost the African Cup with Egypt against Senegal on penalties (0-0 and 4-2) and has not seen the door either in the two cup finals or in the Champions League today. However, next season, his last contract with Liverpool, he will try again. His hunger for titles is insatiable.
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
