Rise of a Football God

"What a moment for Liverpool!"

"What a game!"

"A model champions league final!" The commentator raved. "Exciting from start to end, what a game!"

"From the beginning to the end, there was no boring point, an end-to-end game of elite attacking football!"

"What a spectacle it was!"

"Both clubs played their hearts out on the pitch!"

"All over the pitch, we had exciting matchups all over. Jamal Musiala vs Virgil Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah vs Alphonso Davies, Darwin Nunez vs Dayot Upamecano, what an exciting spectacle it was!"

"Having had a terrific season for club and country in the 2024/2025 season so far, winning the Bundesliga title already as Harry Kane finally broke his trophy curse, Jamal Musiala was once again a menace in the final, terrorizing Liverpool's defense repeatedly!"

"The boy is in a class of his own. It's a pity that he had to play against the team led by a player that's arguably had the best season in all of Europe".

"Of course, I'm talking of the Egyptian King".

"This season will be remembered as a Mohamed Salah legendary season!"

"Yes, there's Sam and his Fulham in the premier league who created history, clinching the premier league title from Liverpool at the last moment but that should take nothing from Salah's performances this season".

"Individually in the premier league, he had the most prolific season of his career in terms of both goals and assists".

"With 35 staggering goals alone in the English premier league, he comfortably won the golden boot award while at the same time coming extremely close to matching Erling Haaland's goal record of 36 goals in the premier league across just 1 season".

"The only thing separating him from that legendary Man City season where Haaland made his appearance known to England is just one goal".

"You just have to know how terrific of a season it is when you produced numbers that are competing with a prime Erling Haaland's numbers".

"He lost out to Sam in the assist race by only 2 assists!"

"Considering how much of a creative freak that boy is, Salah was amazing!"

"Honestly, if not for the interjection of Fulham, Salah's season is among the all-time great professional football seasons out there".

"But still, it was a legendary season!"

"I mean, come on, 47 goals and 28 assists in all competitions, making a total 75 goal contributions, that's just crazy numbers!"

"The greatest numbers of Salah's career!"

"That's Messi and Ronaldo numbers!"

"That should tell you how crazy of a season it was for the Egyptian King, football fans of the Liverpool persuasion witnessed greatness this season!"

"Winning the UEFA champions league trophy alone is enough to make it a legendary season, and it cannot help but feel like a farewell to Anfield from the incredible Egyptian King despite the fact that he signed a contract extension". Stay updated via My Virtual Library Empire

"It is a shame that he failed to win another premier league title in the end after such a legendary 96-point season in the English premier league".

"Surely, he is the front-runner for this season's ballon d'or award now!"

Even as the commentator raved, the celebrations already started on the pitch as the Liverpool players gave in to their emotions, celebrating wildly.

Mohamed Salah especially broke down in tears of joy as his family joined him on the pitch. Today's win was a culmination of previous unfulfilled ambitions, extreme hard work, and dedication that all resulted in this beautiful moment.

He felt grateful for being graced to experience a moment like this for the second time in his career after experiencing it only once when Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane were still his strike partners.

Considering how changed a side this Liverpool was compared to that Liverpool side; his first UEFA champions league win seemed like it happened ages ago and it was what made his emotions cascade.

But in football, the universal rule of victor and loser always applies and on this important day, Bayern Munich were the losers.

Even as the Liverpool players rejoiced, celebrating their historic 7th champions league title, the Bayern Munich players experienced a cascade of emotions too but unlike Liverpool's, their emotions lingered on the sad side.

A young Jamal Musiala especially could not control his emotions as the German attacking midfielder gave in, collapsing in a fit of tears.

More senior players of the Bayern Munich attacking squad had to meet him, consoling him even as they tried to mask their pain.

Harry Kane, the veteran England striker had another UEFA champions league heartbreak after facing his first with Tottenham Hotspurs back in 2019 against a vastly different Liverpool side.

'Always Liverpool…,' this striker could not help but think.

But he took the defeat calmer than most of his teammates.

After all the celebrations, time finally came for the award ceremony. After a legendary Champions league season, Mohamed Salah won a duo of individual awards, going home with the golden ball award for the best player of the tournament and also the man of the match award for the final itself.

Liverpool did not have a clean sweep of individual awards though.

Despite losing out in the end, after his crazy goals earlier in the tournament, including a hattrick in the quarterfinals of the champions league, Harry Kane took home the golden boot award for the most goals scored by a single player in the tournament.

Manuel Neuer also took home the golden glove award after a final legendary run in the champions league despite the fact that the veteran Bayern Munich goalkeeper was now 40!

Apart from his performance in the final against Liverpool, in earlier games, most prominently in the blockbuster semifinal clash against the previous reigning champions, Real Madrid, Manuel Neuer put out masterpiece displays in both games that helped them knock Real Madrid out of the competition.

Alisson Becker was good, but Manuel Neuer was just slightly better in this specific UEFA champions league tournament.

After the game though, during an interview where he faced the camera, the Bayern Munich no. 1 goalkeeper finally announced bombshell news.

"This is my last game in football".

"I'm retiring".