Mohamed Salah breaks down in tears after an injury forced his withdrawal from the Uefa Champions League final. Andrew Boyers / Reuters
Mohamed Salah breaks down in tears after an injury forced his withdrawal from the Uefa Champions League final. Andrew Boyers / Reuters
Mohamed Salah breaks down in tears after an injury forced his withdrawal from the Uefa Champions League final. Andrew Boyers / Reuters
Mohamed Salah breaks down in tears after an injury forced his withdrawal from the Uefa Champions League final. Andrew Boyers / Reuters

Uefa Champions League final proved a cruel affair for Liverpool pair Salah and Karius


Richard Jolly
  • English
  • Arabic

The plot line would have sounded irresistible to Liverpool. A match-winning double from the No 11, one of them the sort of spectacular strike destined to go down in folklore? This, it would have seemed, was the perfect ending to Mohamed Salah’s fairytale season.

It was not, of course. The symbolic sight of Salah exiting in tears, his shoulder or collarbone apparently damaged by Sergio Ramos, his World Cup seemingly over before it began, confirmed that long before Gareth Bale entered proceedings to turn the Uefa Champions League final with a dynamic cameo, forged of brilliance, with his overhead kick, and blundering, from the unfortunate Loris Karius, who let his second goal slip through his fingers.

From a Liverpool perspective, the 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid is destined to be remembered for two players: the luckless Salah and the hapless Karius, who was still more culpable for Karim Benzema's opener, throwing the ball at the Frenchman's outstretched foot.

______________

Read more:

Egypt 'optimistic' Mohamed Salah will be fit for World Cup

Real Madrid beat Liverpool to Uefa Champions League - as it happened

______________

The German has been the antithesis of the timid Simon Mignolet. He can be cocky, but he looked crushed by career-defining mistakes, crying in apology to supporters afterwards. The psychological damage could be considerable.

Even a motivator of Jurgen Klopp’s prowess may struggle to rebuild Karius’ confidence. Even a loyalist like Klopp, whose faith in his players has allowed some to reach heights few foresaw and permitted Andrew Robertson and Dejan Lovren to deliver terrific displays in the biggest game of their lives, may have to admit defeat and resort to the transfer market.

While the indications from Anfield had been that Liverpool would persist with Karius, it is not a kneejerk reaction to suggest they need to sign a goalkeeper. Klopp is an admirer of the Brazilian Allison but Roma are scarred by selling Salah on the cheap last summer: negotiations may be costly.

Loris Karius walks past the Uefa Champions League trophy. Shaun Botterill / Getty Images
Loris Karius walks past the Uefa Champions League trophy. Shaun Botterill / Getty Images

So, sadly for Karius, was his display in Kiev: this is a third European Cup final that will be indelibly associated with a Liverpool goalkeeper, but it was not a sequel to Bruce Grobbelaar and Jerzy Dudek’s heroics.

Salah’s significance was reflected 24 hours earlier when mobile-phone footage emerged of Jamie Carragher singing Liverpool fans’ salute to their top scorer. Hopes were invested in their “Egyptian king,” including those of a man with 737 Liverpool appearances to his name, and after a bright first 25 minutes, Liverpool looked drained of belief when Salah was substituted. Simply and correctly, Klopp called it “a shock”.

It highlighted faultlines in the squad. Injuries have in effect reduced Liverpool to 11 players in recent weeks; they lost the most important of the 11. It said something that Adam Lallana was Salah’s replacement. A fully-fit Lallana is a bona fide Klopp player: with 16 minutes of first-team football since March and one league start all season, the Englishman was understandably ineffective.

The contrast in the respective benches was underlined when Bale struck twice. Liverpool have lacked that strength in depth since Philippe Coutinho decamped for the Nou Camp.

Their front three had camouflaged his departure; as Klopp only signs players he really wants, Liverpool should not be faulted for panic-buying a substandard replacement.

Plans are now afoot to bring in Lyon’s Nabil Fekir to adopt similar duties, either in the midfield or the front three; how Liverpool could have done with him in Ukraine.

Because, for different reasons, only one of their supercharged Key Three was at his best. Roberto Firmino was uncharacteristically sloppy, with passes misplaced and decisions misjudged.

Over the season, Sadio Mane has been the least prolific of the trio, but in the two biggest matches, he has been the best. He scored and struck the post, just as he found the net in the semi-final second leg against Roma. His final leveller made Liverpool the first team ever to have three players record 10 Champions League goals in a season.

It is another indication of how extraordinary their European campaign has been. It could be the springboard: with Naby Keita definitely joining and Fekir perhaps following, they may return stronger.

Yet it will be a feat if Salah regains the astonishing momentum that propelled him to such statistical and footballing feats and a surprise if Karius is back as Liverpool’s first choice. In different ways, this was the cruellest of Champions League finals for them.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Teaching your child to save

Pre-school (three - five years)

You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.

Early childhood (six - eight years)

Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.

Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)

Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.

Young teens (12 - 14 years)

Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.

Teenage (15 - 18 years)

Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.

Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)

Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.

* JP Morgan Private Bank 

The Settlers

Director: Louis Theroux

Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz

Rating: 5/5

INFO

Schools can register for the Abu Dhabi Schools Championships at www.champions.adsc.ae

PROFILE OF SWVL

Started: April 2017

Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport

Size: 450 employees

Investment: approximately $80 million

Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani

Sukuk explained

Sukuk are Sharia-compliant financial certificates issued by governments, corporates and other entities. While as an asset class they resemble conventional bonds, there are some significant differences. As interest is prohibited under Sharia, sukuk must contain an underlying transaction, for example a leaseback agreement, and the income that is paid to investors is generated by the underlying asset. Investors must also be prepared to share in both the profits and losses of an enterprise. Nevertheless, sukuk are similar to conventional bonds in that they provide regular payments, and are considered less risky than equities. Most investors would not buy sukuk directly due to high minimum subscriptions, but invest via funds.

The%20Specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.6-litre%20twin%20turbocharged%20V6%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E10-speed%20automatic%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20472hp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20603Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Efrom%20Dh290%2C000%20(%2478%2C9500)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE SPECS

Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8

Transmission: seven-speed dual clutch

Power: 710bhp

Torque: 770Nm

Speed: 0-100km/h 2.9 seconds

Top Speed: 340km/h

Price: Dh1,000,885

On sale: now

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The rules of the road keeping cyclists safe

Cyclists must wear a helmet, arm and knee pads

Have a white front-light and a back red-light on their bike

They must place a number plate with reflective light to the back of the bike to alert road-users

Avoid carrying weights that could cause the bike to lose balance

They must cycle on designated lanes and areas and ride safe on pavements to avoid bumping into pedestrians

The biog

Favourite book: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Favourite holiday destination: Spain

Favourite film: Bohemian Rhapsody

Favourite place to visit in the UAE: The beach or Satwa

Children: Stepdaughter Tyler 27, daughter Quito 22 and son Dali 19

MATCH RESULT

Al Jazira 3 Persepolis 2
Jazira:
Mabkhout (52'), Romarinho (77'), Al Hammadi (90' 6)
Persepolis: Alipour (42'), Mensha (84')

THE LOWDOWN

Photograph

Rating: 4/5

Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies

Director: Ritesh Batra

Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz