Mohamed Salah wants to play against Real Madrid in the Champions League final

Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah did not score on Tuesday in his team’s victory at Villarreal (3-2) and is still far from Real Madrid’s Frenchman Karim Benzema, leader of the Champions League scoring chart. Speaking to BT Sport, the Egyptian footballer said that he prefers to face the final to the ‘White House’.

“If I’m honest, I want to play against Real Madrid. City are a good team and we have already played against them several times this season. I want to play against Real Madrid because we lost a final against them. And I want to win this time”, confessed Salah.

The Egyptian star has eight goals in this Champions League, compared to 14 for Benzema, whose team plays on Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabéu against Manchester City.

Liverpool recovered from a two-goal deficit on Tuesday, and in an attacking flurry of less than 15 minutes, beat Villarreal 3-2 on the road to reach the Champions League final. Jürgen Klopp’s side survived a poor first half, in which they finished two goals down, but showed all their attacking might in the second half to advance to their third European Cup final in five seasons.

On the other hand, Virgil van Dijk also referred to the team he wants to face in the final. The Dutch defender argued that “any team will be a nightmare. We know a lot about City, and they know us. We know how they can adapt and how intense the matches against them are. And Real Madrid is Real Madrid. It is a very big team and they have a very fit striker. Tomorrow I will watch the match while I recover”.