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Zinedine Zidane won’t swap Cristiano Ronaldo for Mohamed Salah

Rishabh Gupta
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The Real Madrid coach talked about Liverpool and Mohamed Salah at the media interaction.

Zinedine Zidane has spoken highly of his star player Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of the Champions League final. Real Madrid play Liverpool in the final of Europe’s premier competition on Saturday this week.

Talking to the media, Zidane said that he won’t swap Ronaldo for Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah. He also flashed out a warning for the Merseyside club, saying that his side is hungry as ever. Real Madrid will look forward to win their 13th Champions League title at Kiev.

“I can’t talk for the opponents, but we always have the same desire as we always do and nobody can say we don’t,” Zidane said at the press conference.

Also read: Ronaldo eyes Champions League record as Real prepares for Kiev showdown

Zidane was very direct throughout the press conference, saying that Liverpool can’t possibly be more hungry than his team. “We’re in a third final and we have the chance to do something historic and win it three times in a row. You can’t say Liverpool have more hunger than us; it simply isn’t true,” he said.

However, he shut down the conversations about Real Madrid having an advantage over Liverpool. This would be Real Madrid’s third consecutive final, while no player in Liverpool has reached this stage before.

“Granted, we have more, but we need to show that we want to win it. Our experience doesn’t count for anything. It’s a final, they (Liverpool) haven’t played in a lot of them, but they’ll kill themselves for this and we know it,” said Zidane.

Inevitably, the talk turned to Mohamed Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo. Zidane, once again, displayed his blatant opinion on the comparisons between the two players.

“Cristiano is the best, he shows it every year,” the Real Madrid coach said.

“Sometimes pressure gets to players and it spurs others on. He is certainly the latter. He’s of maximum importance to us,” Zidane further added.

About the author

Rishabh Gupta

Rishabh Gupta

A sports enthusiast. Sports, I believe, is one of the few powers which help us grow, both as an individual and society. With each day, in the rich world of sports, I grow.

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