'One on Salah in 2018 UCL final was masterstroke' - Chiellini sees Ramos 'best'

Giorgio Chiellini has called Sergio Ramos ‘the best defender in the world’ and his foul on Mohamed Salah in the 2018 Champions League Final a ‘masterstroke’.

Ramos controversially injured Salah early on in Real Madrid’s 3-1 win against Liverpool, having thrown all his weight on the forward’s shoulder, but Chiellini maintains the 34-year-old was merely showcasing his ‘devilish wit’.

“He’s the best defender in the world,” read a new excerpt from his new autobiography, leaked by AS.

“They say he’s impulsive, not tactical at all, that 8-10 goals are conceded each season through his mistakes, that he’s very technical and that he could be a striker, which is the opposite of me.

“However, he has two characteristics that almost no-one else has. He knows how to be decisive in big games, with interventions that go beyond any logic, that even cause injuries with almost devilish wit.

“The one on Salah in the 2018 Champions League Final was a masterstroke. He’s always said that he didn’t do it on purpose, knowing that nine times out of ten, falling like he did and by not letting go, he risked breaking his opponent's arm.”

The Juventus captain went as far as to say Madrid’s other defenders looked like ‘schoolboys’ without the Spaniard.

“The strength he transmits through his presence alone is incredible. Without Ramos, some champions like Varane, Carvajal and Marcelo seem like schoolboys. They suddenly regress. Real Madrid become a defenceless team.

“With him at the Bernabeu, you can be sure that the Spaniards wouldn’t have lost to Ajax by three goals. I’d bet any money on that.”