Real Madrid Or Manchester City? Salah Wants To Face This Team In UCL Final

Liverpool FC superstar Mohamed Salah has revealed which team he would like to face in the final of the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League.

Salah and Co. edged out Villarreal 3-2 in their semi-final second leg on Tuesday to progress to the final on an aggregate of 5-2. Liverpool will play either Real Madrid or Manchester City in the Champions League final on May 29 in Paris.

Pep Guardiola's City defeated 13-time champions Real Madrid 4-3 at Etihad Stadium in the first leg last month.

It is going to be Liverpool's third Champions League final in five years. Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool first played the top European final in 2018. Salah suffered a shoulder injury in the first half of that match as he tussled with then-Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos.

During a post-match interview after Liverpool's win over Villarreal on Tuesday, Salah was asked if he would rather face Manchester City or Real Madrid in the showdown.

"Yeah, I want to play Madrid. City is a really tough team, we've played against them a few times this season. If you ask me personally, I'd prefer Madrid," the Egyptian King replied.

When asked if he was looking to avenge the 2018 final defeat against Los Blancos, the former Roma forward said, "We lost in the final against them, so I want to play against them and hopefully win it from them as well."

After losing the final in Kyiv, Liverpool once again made it to the final the following year and lifted their sixth Champions League trophy. Salah and Divock Origi scored in their 2-0 win in the final over Tottenham in Madrid.

Klopp's Liverpool conceded two goals in the first half against Villarreal and the scoreline remained so at the half-time break before Fabinho, Luis Diaz and Sadio Mane scored for the Reds in the next half to seal the deal for Klopp and Co.

With Liverpool into the Champions League final, Klopp's side has become just the fourth team to reach as many as 10 European Cup/Champions League finals, after Real Madrid (16), AC Milan (11) and Bayern Munich (11), according to Opta Joe.

With 14 goals, Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema is the leading goal scorer in this season's Champions League, six more than Salah.

Overall in the 2021-22 season, Salah has scored a total of 30 competitive goals for Liverpool. The Reds are chasing a historic quadruple as they have won the League Cup and are due to play two more finals – FA Cup and the Champions League. Liverpool are also a point behind Man City in the Premier League title race with four games remaining.