Juventus centre-back Giorgio Chiellini has described Sergio Ramos’ takedown of Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah in the 2018 Champions League final as a “masterstroke”.
Sergio Ramos grabbed Salah by the arm and took him to the ground in the first half of the clash in Kiev, causing the Egypt star to be substituted with a shoulder injury.
Salah was in tears as he left the pitch and Zinedine Zidane’s side capitalised on the absence of the Egyptian, going on to win the final 3-1.
Ramos pleaded innocence afterwards but Chiellini says the Spaniard knew what he was doing and said it’s an example of his “devilish wit”.
“They say he’s impulsive, not tactical at all, that 8-10 goals are conceded each season through his mistakes, that he’s very technical and that he could be a striker, which is the opposite of me,” Chiellini writes in his autobiography, per AS.
“However, he has two characteristics that almost no-one else has. He knows how to be decisive in big games, with interventions that go beyond any logic, that even cause injuries with almost devilish wit.
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“The one on Salah in the 2018 Champions League final was a masterstroke. He’s always said that he didn’t do it on purpose, knowing that nine times out of 10, falling like he did and by not letting go, he risked breaking his opponent’s arm.”
However, Ramos went unpunished for the foul and was also involved in the incident that made the Reds keeper Loris Karius to suffer a concussion.
Ramos played down the challenge on Mohamed Salah, saying the Liverpool forward could have carried on if he had an injection.
“Bloody hell, they have given this Salah thing a lot of attention. I didn’t want to speak because everything is magnified,” Ramos said, per the Daily Mail.
“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. After that, the goalkeeper said I dazed him with a clash.
“I spoke with Salah through messages, he was quite good. 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 stick out a little bit more.”
