When Mohamed Salah joined Liverpool from Roma last summer, there was little to indicate he was joining a club who were on the verge of challenging for the top trophy in European football.
Yes, Liverpool reached the 2015/16 Europa League final but they lost that match to Sevilla and there was no European football the following season. In fact, you must go back to 2007/08 to find the last time Liverpool really competed for this trophy and they reached the semi-final.
Since then, there has been one quarter-final appearance and some disappointing exits in both the Champions League and Europa League.
Salah Improves Liverpool
source: AnfieldHQ
This season, Liverpool were hoping Salah would add to Liverpool’s attacking options. The Egyptian has gone one better and enhanced Liverpool’s attack with his performances. Not only has Salah been scoring plenty of goals, he has been creating goals for his teammates and has rightly been recognised as the best player in the Premier League this season.
Liverpool did not come close to winning the Premier League but they are just one match away from winning the Champions League and Salah will be contesting the first Champions League final of his career.
Salah vs Ronaldo
source: AnfieldHQ
Due to his high level of performances by Salah this season, many onlookers are calling the final a match between Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo, rather than Liverpool vs Real Madrid. The feeling is that whoever comes out on top between the two forwards, will ultimately make the difference in the final.
Salah was quick to play down the rivalry between himself and the Portuguese superstar, saying, “It is not going to be a final between Mohamed Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo. I am playing for a great club and we have great players, so qualifying to the final came with great teamwork. I cannot do it alone – it is collective work. When we score a goal it’s because we are all doing good, when we concede it means we all need to work harder.”
While Salah wants the focus to be on the two teams rather than himself and Ronaldo in the Champions League final, it is a testament to how well Salah has played this season that he is being compared to the Real Madrid forward.
source: the18.com
Ronaldo has been at the top of world football for many years and only Lionel Messi has come close to competing with the former Manchester United man. However, things have changed this season and thanks to the goalscoring exploits of Salah, the Liverpool man has propelled himself to the top table of world football talent.
Salah still has a long way to go to match the exploits of Ronaldo but he has plenty of time in which to do it, starting with the Champions League final this season. If Salah was to take Liverpool to glory and end the reign of Real Madrid and Ronaldo, we could have a new man crowned as the best in world football.
Read more news about Mohamed Salah related to the World Cup 2018 in Russia here.
featured image source: The Anfield Wrap
