Mohamed Salah has been accused of 'disrespecting' Real Madrid, as tension starts to build ahead of their Champions League final on Saturday.
Liverpool will be extra determined to finish the season with a third cup trophy in Paris at the weekend, having missed out on the Premier League title last weekend.
That result left Salah pretty devastated, especially learning about City's third goal just as he put his own team ahead against Wolves for the first time in the afternoon.
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At least the Egyptian can end his campaign by getting some retribution on Real, who Liverpool lost to in the 2018 final, when he went off injured in the first half.
The Premier League Golden Boot joint winner was already eyeing up the Spanish champions at the semi final stage, admitting he hoped they'd beat City so he could exact revenge.
However, those comments didn't go down to well in Spain, with Federico Valverde claiming the comments were 'disrespectful' to the 13 times European champions.
"Obviously they're words that everyone can take however they want," the midfielder told Marca.
"I'm his opponent and it's like disrespecting the Real Madrid badge, the players...
"The only thing we must do is give our best, try to show why we're in the final and let's hope we can give another trophy to the fans and to Real Madrid."
Asked following the win over Villarreal who he wanted to face, Salah said, "I want to play Madrid, I have to be honest," the Egyptian forward told BT Sport.
"Manchester City's a real tough team, we've played against them a few times this season.
"If you ask me personally, I would prefer Madrid. We lost in the final before against them, I want to play them and hopefully we'll win."
Which doesn't really seem all too disrespectful but Valverde is treating it like it's the worst thing anyone's done to Los Blancos since Kylian Mbappe had the temerity to pick PSG over them...
Liverpool were on the cruel end of a comeback at the weekend, without even being in the match, as City went 2-0 down against Aston Villa before winning.
Real are no strangers to a comeback themselves, having had to fight from behind against PSG, Chelsea and City on the way to the final, something Valverde is very grateful for.
"The first thing to do is thank the fans, because when the game seems lost, when you can't find spaces, the team isn't feeling good, the fans are always there to support us," the midfielder said.
"That gives us a plus, an energy that you can't explain. The game isn't over until the referee says so.
"The biggest one was against City. It's very difficult to go through again when you're losing in the 89th minute, you blink and you're winning. They're things that don't happen often in life."
A comeback win for Liverpool with Salah scoring the winner late on might just be the ultimate revenge, no disrespect to Real...
Topics: Champions League, La Liga, Liverpool, Premier League, Real Madrid, Federico Valverde
Ryan Sidle