Salah ‘played Real while still injured’
LIVERPOOL boss Jurgen Klopp has been accused of playing Mohamed Salah in the Champions League final despite the striker carrying an injury.
Egypt’s team doctor claims Salah is still struggling with the issue he sustained in the FA Cup final against Chelsea in May.
Salah limped off in the first half at Wembley but returned for 32 minutes in Liverpool’s final Premier League game against Wolves.
The PFA player of the year then played 90 minutes in the Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid and even captained his country in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Guinea earlier this month.
But Egypt team doctor Mohamed Abou El Ela has admitted Salah, who played 51 games for Liverpool last season, was still nursing the same injury a month on from the FA Cup final when he linked up with the national squad this summer.
‘Salah’s injury occurred during the FA Cup final in the adductor muscles, then he played against Wolves and in the Champions League final, and all of this in just 14 days,’ he told On Time Sports.
‘We read a statistic that he’s the second-highest player in terms of minutes played this season. We send and receive players with medical reports, and Liverpool’s said that he had pain and should get an X-ray, there’s not a 100 per cent fit player, but there’s the question of whether he can push himself and play without risk.’
It comes as Premier League clubs prepare for an unprecedented season that will incorporate a winter World Cup in Qatar in a jam-packed calendar, further raising concerns over player welfare and increased risk of injury.