Sergio Ramos has defended his conduct in the Champions League final against Liverpool, dismissing suggestions he is to blame for injuries suffered by Loris Karius and Mohamed Salah.
The Real Madrid captain has been intensely criticised since last month’s fixture in Kiev, when Salah injured his shoulder following Ramos’ challenge and Karius made two crucial errors that gifted Real goals in a 3-1 defeat.
Test have since found that the goalkeeper sustained a concussion during those 90 minutes and doctors say that it was “likely” he instantly felt its effects, even if they have not suggested a collusion with Ramos had been the cause.
The 32-year-old Ramos has revealed he later spoke to Salah, but according to AS, he said: “B****y hell, they’ve given this a lot of attention, the Salah thing. I didn’t want to speak because everything is magnified.
“I see the play well, he grabs my arm first and I fell to the other side; the injury happened to the other arm and they said that I gave him a judo hold.
“After, the goalkeeper said that I dazed him with a clash. I am only missing (Roberto) Firmino saying that he got a cold because a drop of my sweat landed on him.”
He added of Salah, who hopes to recover in time to feature for Egypt at the World Cup: “I spoke with Salah through messages; he was quite good. He could have played if he got an injection for the second half, I have done it sometimes but when Ramos does something like this, it sticks a little bit more.
“I don’t know if it’s because you’re at Madrid for so long and win for so long that people look at it a different way.”
