Egyptian star Mohamed Salah renewing rivalry with Sergio Ramos in UEFA Champions League quarter finals
Sergio Ramos will renew his rivalry with Liverpool when Real Madrid face Jurgen Klopp’s side in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Ramos became public enemy number one on Merseyside for injuring Mohamed Salah’s shoulder in the 2018 Champions League final, which Los Blancos went on to win 3-1.
Liverpools Egyptian King had been tipped to fire the Reds to a sixth European Cup against the holders, but his final instead ended in heartbreak before the half-time whistle.
Salah was forced off the field just 30 minutes into the Kiev clash with a shoulder injury after falling awkwardly under a challenge from Ramos which many fans have claimed was deliberate.
With both clubs struggling to retain their domestic crowns, the European Cup presents the best chance for them to salvage their season.
Now they will do battle in an intriguing last eight tie after the draw was made on Friday morning. Liverpool must visit the Bernabeu in the first leg, where they lost 1-0 in a group game seven years ago.
Chelsea, winners in 2012, have been handed a favourable looking draw as they face Porto. Thomas Tuchel’s men got past Atletico Madrid 3-0 on aggregate in the last round and will be heavy favourites to overcome the 2004 champions, despite them beating Juventus in the last 16.
If both English clubs progress then they will meet in another instalment of their fierce Champions League rivalry. Chelsea and Liverpool previously met in the last four in 2004/05, 2006/07 and 2007/08 and also in the 2008/09 quarter-finals.
Elsewhere, Manchester City’s quest for a maiden Champions League title will continue with a quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund.
City, who have never got past the semi-final of the premier European club competition, will face more German opposition after beating Borussia Monchengladbach in the last 16.
They will come up against the hottest young player on the planet in Erling Haaland. If City can get past Dortmund then they will meet either Bayern Munich or Paris Saint Germain in the semi-final.
The German side and PSG, managed by Mauricio Pochettino, are meeting in a repeat of last season’s final. The quarter-finals will be played over the weeks of April 6/7 and 13/14 while the last four will be played on April 27/28 and May 4/5. The final is being played in Istanbul on Saturday, May 29.
Ramos hit back at any suggestion he meant to harm the in-form forward, and claimed in comments made on Tuesday that the Liverpool star could have kept playing if he had an injection to ease the pain.
Then Egypt boss Hector Cuper slammed Ramos for his comments and insists Salah would have done everything in his, and in modern medicine’s, power to play on for the Reds.
I’m not a doctor, I don’t know if [Sergio] Ramos is a doctor, but it’s a player who is playing a final and has an injury,” said the Egypt boss, who has picked Salah for his 23-man World Cup squad.
“I don’t have any doubt that if he could keep playing he would do it, because a Champions League final is extraordinary.
“My opinion is that Salah has an important injury, there is a recovering [process] that we can see, and we are optimistic about the chances he has to play in the World Cup.
“We listen to many things, but the reality is that the doctors recover or confirm a problem in a player.”
