1. Football is about the physical as much as it is about the psychological. One would therefore have to be the most disingenious of "analysts" to dismiss the fact that Salah's exit, which was as demoralising as it was shocking, had a devastating psychological effect on Liverpool's performance. A Ronaldo--or Sergio Ramos, say--exit could have had similar effect on our opponents' performance. It's not necessarily about what those guys eventually do with the ball; it's about the psychology of their presence on the field of play.
.2. The Real Madrid team that won this game tonight was as bland and colourless as their fawning "hailers". Trust me, every impartial analyst knows this Madrid team isn't in any way spectacular. This much was evident in the first 30 minutes of play. Nothing, sans Bale's first goal, shows that this Madrid would even have won against any relatively stable team if the Salah-Ramos tango hadn't occurred.
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