An early goal from Mohamed Salah and a late one from Divock Origi gave Liverpool a 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in Saturday’s all-English Champions League final as coach Juergen Klopp finally got his hands on Europe’s biggest prize.
“Everyone is happy now,” said a delighted Salah. “I am glad to play the second final in a row and play 90 minutes finally. Everyone did his best today, no great individual performances, all the team was unbelievable.” Later on Twitter, Salah posted a photo of himself holding the cup surrounded by cheering teammates. “Believe, work hard, and it’ll happen,” the 26-year-old star wrote
Liverpool, who missed out on the Premier League title to Manchester City by one point, did not produce their usual whirlwind attacking game but sealed a sixth European Cup triumph with an arrowed finish from substitute Origi in the 87th minute. The win was sweet redemption for Salah and especially Jurgen Klopp, who had suffered defeat on his last six appearances in major finals, including Champions League showpieces with Borussia Dortmund in 2013 and Liverpool last year. “I am so happy for the boys all these people, and my family. They suffer for me, they deserve it more than anybody,” Klopp said.
Kane was far from the only player who lacked sharpness in a game of few moments of real quality, a possible effect of both sides not playing any competitive games for three weeks. Spurs put Liverpool under real pressure in the latter stages as Dele Alli headed over and Son Heung-min and Moura forced impressive saves from Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker. Origi, one of Liverpool’s heroes in their stunning semi-final second-leg turnaround against Barcelona, then killed the game with a ruthless finish into the bottom corner.
