From El Mokawloon to Liverpool: Salah makes Atletico's night a bitter one
Mohammed Salah arrived at the Metropolitano in full swing. The Egyptian striker is having a great season at Liverpool with seven goals in eight games. Simeone's side were aware of the goalscoring ability of Klopp's team, who this season are returning to perform as they did in 2019, when they lifted the Champions League precisely at the Metropolitano.
After eight minutes he scored the first goal from Robertson's pass and in the 78th minute he scored the third from the penalty spot with all the pressure from the Atlético de Madrid fans in the stands who were watching the comeback slip away.
Salah is the mirror in which players like Vinicius look to. The Real Madrid Brazilian has improved his goalscoring figures and has set an example to Salah, who in his early years in professional football hardly scored any goals, and even at Roma, even in the elite, was not the striker he was at Liverpool.
He has played 57 games for Egypt in 11 seasons, scoring 41 goals. He played in the London 2012 Olympics where he scored two goals in four games. He is now playing in the qualifiers for the World Cup in Qatar with qualification closer, although the final qualifiers will be played in the spring and will have Morocco as their main rivals.
The big change in Salah's football came when he landed at Liverpool from Roma. His goalscoring numbers doubled from 19 goals in all competitions to 44 in his first year in England.
With Jürgen Klopp as manager, he began to feel more comfortable with the ball at his feet, even if his attacks came from the flanks. He got on well with players like Firmino and Mané, with whom he formed one of the most powerful tridents in Europe.
Mohammed Salah's career in football began with the Egyptian team El Mokawloon, better known by the international name of the company that manages it, Arab Contracts. A mid-table Egyptian team that sold him to Basel for 1.5 million euros. In two years in the Swiss league he multiplied his price eightfold and ended up at Chelsea for 8.5 million euros.
With the English team he played just 19 games in two turbulent seasons with Mourinho and Hiddink on the Blue bench. After loan spells at Fiorentina and Roma, Salah arrived at Liverpool to become part of the Anfield Road club's history.
The Egyptian has a low profile in England. He was voted GQ magazine's man of the year in 2019 and posed with model Alessandra Ambrosio on the cover something that cost him some criticism back home. He has also come to the defence of his team-mate Amr Warda, who was accused of sexual abuse by several women, although he was eventually reinstated.
Liverpool are set for more silverware this season and the performance of their Pharaoh could be decisive.
