The Croatian is close friends with Liverpool’s No.11 and after he suffered a shoulder following a collision with Sergio Ramosin the 2018 champions league final, Lovren took matters into his own hands.
Lovren ended up coming up against Ramos in a UEFA Nations League game between Croatia and Spain in November 2018. The hosts won 3-2 in Zagreb, with Lovren leaving one on the Real skipper when they challenged in the air from a corner.
And now, nearly two years on, Lovren has confirmed he did so deliberately – his feeling being that Ramos should get a taste of his own medicine and he ought to be the one to give it to him.
“I deliberately hit Ramos after hurting Salah? Yes, this is possible,” the Zenit centre-back.
“I do not want to make a big story, but I think that what Ramos did was intentional to injure my friend, so it was time to pay for what he has done.
“Luka Modric tried to reduce the tension between me and Ramos, and we were facing Spain together with the Croatian national team, and I deliberately hit him with my elbows and told him that we have drawn now.
“I respect Ramos as a player and what he does for his team. He has won a lot of titles, but on the other hand, he does some behaviour that I do not like and harm the players.
“We were playing much better than Real Madrid before Salah was injured in the Champions League final. His exit was a big blow for us, after his exit, they began to dominate the match.”
However, it seems he did enjoy his friend levelling matters against Ramos a few months later.
When asked how Salah reacted to the elbow Lovren replied: “I will not tell you [what he said], but he laughed.”
