Former Real Madrid player and manager Vincente Del Bosque has made some very bold claims about the UEFA Champions League Final, and the two teams playing in it on Saturday.
Del Bosque claims that not one single Liverpool player would get in the Los Blancos starting XI, not even Mohamed Salah, who broke the Premier League record for single season goals scored in 2017-18. Yes, not even the PFA and Premier League Player of the Year would provide an upgrade over his Madrid counterpart, Del Bosque believes.
Clearly, the former Spanish national team coach is seeking attention by waving the flag of jingoism ahead of Saturday’s clash in Kiev. Yes, Madrid have won three of the last four UCL finals, and they are favored this weekend, but not by that much.
“Real Madrid have a great squad — they are the best club in Europe at the moment and must show that on Saturday,” Del Bosque told “El Partidazo” radio show.
“I don’t see even one Liverpool player who would improve Real Madrid, not even [Mohamed] Salah.”
The 67-year-old Salamanca native also predicted a 4-1 win for the reigning two time European champions. Mo Salah has been a complete revelation for Liverpool this season, and his dominance over the course of the entire campaign has made him a bonafide Ballon d’Or candidate.
And now he’s been given a lot of bulletin board material, so it will be interesting to see how he responded to this. Maybe he will say something to the press about these remarks before the game?
Real Madrid left back Marcelo took a more PR friendly approach to describing Salah and the rest of the Liverpool attack.
“Every game is different and Liverpool aren’t just all about Salah. They’ve also got Firmino and Mane,” he said.
“They’ve got several players who are capable of changing the complexion of a game, particularly in finals, and we’re aware that we can’t afford to focus on one single player.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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