Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini has suggested that Real Madrid star Sergio Ramos knew he could have broken Mo Salah’s arm in the 2018 Champions League final, according to a report in the Mirror.
Ramos clashed with Salah in the first half of the 2018 Champions League final and Liverpool’s Egyptian star was forced to come off after the tussle with the Real Madrid defender.
Ramos admitted that he didn’t purposely intend to injure Salah, taking to social media after winning the Champions League final that night to say “Sometimes football shows you it’s good side and other times the bad. Above all, we are fellow pros. Get well soon Mo Salah.”,
However, according to Juventus stalwart Chiellini, Ramos did it on purpose.
Stating in his autobiography about Ramos’ foul on Salah in that final as reported in AS, Chiellini wrote:
“What he did to Salah was a masterstroke,”
“He, Sergio the master, has always said that it was unintentional but he was aware that falling in the way that he did, without loosening his grip on that hold, nine times out of 10 you can break your opponent’s arm.”
“You could say he’s impulsive and not very tactically aware, that he is responsible for conceding eight or 10 goals a season and if I’m pulled up for two or three I’d be slaughtered.”
“He’s a very technical player, more of a striker than a defender, the complete opposite of me. Without him, Madrid turn into a team without a defence.”
“Without him, Varane, Marcelo and Carvajal look like kids playing for the reserve team.”
Real Madrid went on to win the 2018 Champions League final 3-1 against Liverpool while Ramos’ foul on Salah went unpunished as the Spanish giants went on to lift the trophy.
Nevertheless, Chiellini’s account will certainly shed light on Sergio Ramos, who is well known to partake in the darker arts of defending as a player, while that tussle with Salah turned the tide in favour of Real Madrid in that year’s UCL final.