Liverpool came up short in Kiev, losing 3-1 to Real Madrid in Saturday night's Champions League final.
Although much of the focus in the time since has been on Loris Karius' two costly errors, it's been pointed out that the injury to Mo Salah in the first half proved to be a pivotal moment.
Approaching the half hour mark, the Egyptian landed awkwardly after a coming together with Sergio Ramos near the halfway line. It was immediately clear he was in pain and, despite an attempt to continue, left the field in tears minutes later. It has since been reported Salah has dislocated his shoulder, now making him a doubt for this summer's World Cup.
Although clear-cut chances had been limited, Liverpool had been the better side prior to Salah's departure. This started to change almost as soon as he left the field.
Marcello was suddenly free to bomb forward without worrying as much about tracking back and the midfield pairing of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric dictated the tempo of the game from then on. Real had the upper hand.
Liverpool fans are therefore left to wonder what might have been had their 44-goal star stayed on the field. As has been clear from some of the tweets posted to Twitter in the time since, many of them - as well as some journalists - also appear to be wondering if Ramos set out to
deliberately inflict the injury.
https://twitter.com/drshahidalam/status/1000534510881181698
https://twitter.com/redtrianglesUK/status/1000485743108730880
https://twitter.com/RKitunga/status/1000629918718484480
https://twitter.com/MaddockMirror/status/1000481221347069953
https://twitter.com/KAminian11/status/1000455489937858560
https://twitter.com/TomJohnson05/status/1000489748883038209
https://twitter.com/Liam_O_Hare/status/1000495553241808896
https://twitter.com/Abel_Nkosinathy/status/1000488832662466562
https://twitter.com/nidger/status/1000463922443452416
https://twitter.com/LagosUberRide/status/1000592772095795205
https://twitter.com/IamVaughany/status/1000511380070502401
Liverpool fell behind in bizarre circumstances in the second half as Loris Karius' attempt to roll the ball to Dejan Lovren was intercepted by Karim Benzema's boot, which diverted it into the empty Liverpool goal. Although Sadio Mane soon equalised, Real retook the lead through a brilliant acrobatic finish from Gareth Bale. On from the bench, the Welshman added a second late on when Karius fumbled his long-range effort into his goal.
Interestingly, German television also picked up on an incident in which
Ramos appeared to elbow Karius shortly before the first of the goalkeeper's two errors.
