Dejan Lovren clearly disagreed with the decision to name Sergio Ramos the Champions League Defender of the Season.
At an awards ceremony on Thursday afternoon, Uefa announced the winners of their annual vote.
The event was dominated by Champions League winners Real Madrid as Luka Modric was named Player of the Year as well as Midfielder of the Year and Cristiano Ronaldo, who has since moved to Juventus, was voted Forward of the Year and earned the accolade of Goal of the Season.
Lovren obviously feels that Ramos was undeserving of an award, however.
The Croatian defender, who lined out for Liverpool in their Champions League final defeat to Real in May, responded to the official announcement by using the ‘facepalm’ emoji on Instagram.
Lovren’s response likely came from Ramos’ notorious challenge on Mohamed Salah in the opening half hour of the game in Kiev which was ultimately decided by a pair of mistakes from Loris Karius.
Liverpool’s talisman was forced off with a serious shoulder injury after being tossed to the ground by Ramos and Reds supporters felt that it was an intentional attempt from the Spanish centre-half, who has a certain reputation for roughhousing, to hurt Salah.
The fact that Ramos was sat behind Salah at the ceremony and even touched the Egyptian forward on the shoulder as he returned to his seat was not lost on viewers.
Lovren was voted in fifth place on the list of top ten Champions League defenders, behind Raphael Varane, Marcelo and Giorgio Chiellini.
During Croatia’s World Cup run, Lovren insisted that he remained underrated as a defender.
“I took Liverpool to the final of the Champions League and now with my national team we are in the final. People should recognise that I am also one of the best defenders in the world and not just talk nonsense,” Lovren said after his country’s semi-final victory over England.
