Liverpool winger Mo Salah has been mocked over his Champions League struggles against PSG on Wednesday night, with several French outlet rinsing the Egyptian for his display, claiming he had a ‘2 out of 10 nightmare’ and having deflated his prospects of winning the Ballon d’Or.
The 32-year-old is enjoying a phenomenal season, even by his own high standards, having played a part in an incredible 30 goals and 22 assists from 40 appearances across all competitions so far. However, while both Salah and Liverpool have enjoyed a season to remember so far, the player struggled badly on Wednesday night in the first leg of their last-16 showdown with PSG in the Champions League.
Indeed, the Egyptian was virtually anonymous as Arne Slot’s gameplan was seriously stifled by the French champions, who but for the “game of my life” by Alisson, would have taken a lead back to Anfield for Tuesday’s second leg.
Having already been tipped as the strong favourite to win the 2025 Ballon d’Or, portions of the French media, perhaps acting a little salty in the wake of Liverpool’s smash and grab win, courtesy of Harvey Elliott’s strike three minutes from time, could not help let Salah know what they thought.
The chastening reviews were started by French outlet GFFN, who claimed Salah had a nightmare, giving him a 2/10 rating and rudely branding the player a ‘phantom’.
The report stated: ‘Salah, touted as the current favourite for the Ballon d’Or, was a phantom.
‘The Egyptian was uninvolved for large periods, comfortably shackled by Mendes and Pacho. He didn’t make any of his three dribbles, lost all eight of his duels and lost possession on 16 occasions.’
FootMercato – who were a little more generous and gave him a 2.5/10 – though were equally dismissive of Salah’s talents. And they wrote that PSG left-back Nuno Mendes absolutely ‘devoured’ Salah in a ‘ghostly’ display from the Reds’ all-time third-highest goalscorer.
‘The Egyptian was ghostly, touching very few balls in the Parisian camp,’ the FootMercato report stated.
‘On each of his rare accelerations, Salah was devoured by Nuno Mendes, in a duel where the Portuguese full-back was promised hell.
‘In the second half, the former Chelsea and Roma player had the chances, but never made the right decision with the ball at his feet, nipping in the bud the rare opportunities of the English, like in the last minutes when his pass to Nunez was too imprecise.’
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Despite that, it’s fair to say the criticism of Salah was perhaps vindicated. Arriving in Paris with the deserved star billing, the Egyptian toiled as he left the field on 86 minutes with no shots, no completed dribbles, and having failed to create a chance or make a key pass despite several opportunities to do so, while also winning not one foul or duels.
However, he was far from the only one and both Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz alongside him were equally as anonymous.
Little wonder a salty Luis Enrique had made Liverpool a big promise ahead of next week’s second leg at Anfield.
It’s fair to say Liverpool will be an entirely different proposition at Anfield and with many a famous European night on their home turf behind them, PSG could face the full force of Slot’s side in the return.
Admittedly, though, Liverpool will have to be better and a similar performance to Wednesday in Paris could see the Ligue 1 champions prevail.
All the same, the French media were far more complimentary about Alisson’s “game-defining” performance and it’s fair to say the Brazilian’s heroics – he made a career-high nine saves on the night – have put the Reds in command of the tie.
GFFN handed him a 9/10: ‘Clearly the man of the match and the one who provided the game-defining performance.
‘The Brazilian made nine saves on the night and succeeded in frustrating the PSG forward line, notably denying [Ousmane] Dembele in a one-on-one and making two important saves in the second half.’
FootMercato merely wrote ‘read above’ in reference to their ratings on all their report on the multiple PSG forwards who the Brazilian repelled.
After the match, Slot referred to the 32-year-old as the best in the world, commenting on TNT Sports: “No, I don’t think I’ve ever worked with a goalkeeper that has played at this level, which is normal because he’s the best in the world.”
“So, I had some very good players as a manager but never the best goalkeeper in the world and that I think he is, he showed that today.”
Latest Liverpool news: Alisson brilliance to force Mamardashvili out….?
Meanwhile, Alisson’s super-show in Paris has reportedly convinced Slot to retain the Brazilian’s services into next season at least – and with it sharpening claims that Giorgi Mamardashvili will have to wait even longer to become the Reds No.1 and with a new exit strategy lined up.
Elsewhere, while Darwin Nunez may have played a key role in Liverpool’s winner, speculation over his future continues to do the rounds.
And with Slot seemingly far from convinced by the Uruguayan, a new report on Thursday morning claims the Reds have opened talks with a powerful frontman nicknamed The Beast.
Finally, a big revelation has come to light over the true reasons whyLiverpool rejected the chance to appoint Ruben Amorim last summerin a real sliding doors moment and with a trusted source revealing the staggering £400m squad rebuild Michael Edwards feared.
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