Salah wish granted as Liverpool star sends message to Real Madrid ahead of UCL final

The Reds progressed to the Paris showpiece with a 5-2 aggregate victory over Villarreal, coming back to win the second leg 3-2 after the Spanish club went 2-0 up on Tuesday.

A showdown with Manchester City would've reflected brilliantly on the Premier League - but that wasn't important to Salah.

The Egyptian, who went off injured early in Liverpool's 2018 Champions League final defeat to Madrid, made it clear he wanted a rematch.

"I want to play Madrid," he told BT Sport. "I have to be honest.

"City's a really tough team, we play against them a few times this season. If you ask me personally I would prefer Madrid."

When ex-Liverpool striker Peter Crouch mentioned Salah's 2018 heartbreak, the forward added: "Because we lost in the final before against them.

"So I want to play against them, hopefully win it against them as well."

And Salah's wish was granted as Los Blancos incredibly fought back from 5-3 down on aggregate to win the tie in extra time.

It appears his mindset hasn't changed one bit as he sent a message to Carlo Ancelotti's men shortly after their win.

"We have a score to settle," Salah posted on Instagram.

In Kyiv, in 2018, Real won 3-1 when substitute Gareth Bale scored twice and Karim Benzema scored the other.

Will the history books look more kindly on Liverpool and Salah this time around?