In Euro final between France and Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo was tackled by Dimitri Payet in the 24th minutes, that of course resulted in Cristiano sustaining a knee injury, he was stretched off the pitch in tears. The world didn't go wild, the internet didn't go hay-wire. Cristiano's haters in their phylum celebrated as if the injury was the the trophy France pursued but in vain - thanks it ended being a pyrrhic victory for them. None called Payet names. Portugal despite having an inferior team both on paper and on the pitch stood and fought relentlessly, the pitch was in complete muss as the home fans threw their loud chants at the eleven Portuguese warriors, Portugal endured, the French players shot from all conners searching for goal, the brick wall of their opponent's defence stood unbreakable. Cristiano Ronaldo walked back to the pitch with bandages on the injured knee firing inspiration and oozing motivation to support his brothers boiling on the pitch from the sideline. Fernando Santos the Portuguese coach welcomed the rivalry of coaching one team with his injured captain. Together in one spirit, together in one mental strength, Portugal emerged victorious against all odds. Critics howled undeserved, haters wailed boring football, and it all ended with cries that even made the victory sweeter, but that wasn't for everyone. Camps didn't break, faith didn't totter. History took note.
Fast forward to 2018 champions league final between Liverpool vs Real Madrid. History once again repeated differently: in words of Karl Marx "history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce". Mohammed Salah in the half of the hour of the game clashed with Sergio Ramos, both fell. Football served her fans the first bitter blow; Salah landed awkwardly with his shoulder. Sergio Ramos has a well documented tales for being a bad guy. Was the injury on Salah a script perfectly executed by the Real Madrid's captain? Wailers think so, and they have proofs that even all the cameras on the pitch can't provide.
The anthem the wailers sang repeatedly was "Sergio Ramos is evil", "he is dirty", "he is an animal". None of the wailers took note to see the warrior in Ramos, the tactical genius in his defense, the fearless leader and the commander in chief in the face of adversity. Ramos leadership qualities are rare. Rather more adjectives were put together to condemn a player who immediately after the match sent a message of support to Salah. Remember history repeats itself; Payet and Ramos, one a disciple of farce while the other a flag-bearer of tragedy.
As Salah went off, Liverpool's moral dropped, the attack went almost dead. Kloop the Liverpool's coach seemed to have no tactical backup in case his nightmares turn to be reality. His biggest asset and weapon was gone. In less than 10 mins, Carvajal fell to Mane's tackle from behind. The wailers yet didn't call Mane names, it was a fine tackle. Carvajal was in tears as he left the pitch with an injury. Zidane the Real Madrid's coach had a tactical answer, Nacho came in, Madrid was fine. In a twist, history was repeated.
Salah went in, the match went on. Cristiano went in but came out to inspire his team. Two different tales. Both Cristiano and Salah came to these different finals with teams who had odds against them.
In the second half, the long awaited goals came. The world once again saw the beast in Bale, but the wailers didn't pick his extraordinary performance to be the difference, they choose to take conspiracy theory to a new level with Ramos-Salah incident. Don't forget, the poor keeper in Liverpool goal, his howler for sure has set a new record in football history. Twice, he betrayed the Red's faithful- spoon-fed Benzema the first goal and made a fool of himself for the third goal. As the hate on Cristiano wasn't enough, a pitch invader jumped into the pitch to deny him a goal in the very last minute. It was fair, fair enough for the wailers.
Kloop has lost his third finals with Liverpool since his arrival, his second champions league final in his career. In stack contrast, Zidane has won three champions league finals out of three - a historic achievement and a record as well.
Finishing second place behind Madrid was a fair position for Kloop and his inexperienced boys . Beating Porto, Man City and Roma was enough prove that he has made an impact since his appointment. Madrid at the other hand beat Juventus, PSG and Bayern Munich all before their fans before negotiating a tricky second leg with only Juventus and Bayern Munich. It is fair to say Real Madrid deserve the champions league trophy. Fair enough they won it, but for wailers, they robbed to get it.
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