Champions League provides perfect stage for Salah to silence naysayers

Liverpool will look up to striker as they face Neymar, Mbappe-powered PSG

LIVERPOOL/ LONDON: Mohamed Salah outshone Neymar and Kylian Mbappe on the Champions League stage last season, but as Paris Saint-Germain's star duo head to Anfield on Tuesday seeking to make amends, the Egyptian is struggling to match the heights of his debut campaign at Liverpool.

Salah's failure to hit top form dates back to his last Champions League appearance four months ago.

Back in May, Salah was on the crest of a wave as his 44-goal campaign had carried Liverpool to the Champions League final and ensured qualification for this season's competition.

However, he lasted just 30 minutes in Kiev after injuring his shoulder when wrestled to the ground by Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos and the Spanish giants went on to lift the trophy in a 3-1 win.

That started a difficult few months for Salah as he was also robbed of being 100-percent fit for Egypt's first World Cup in 28 years.



Without their talisman, the Pharaohs were beaten by Uruguay in their opening game and his goals against Russia and Saudi Arabia couldn't prevent Egypt returning home without a single point.

That hangover has been felt on the field with Salah scoring just twice in Liverpool's opening five games of the campaign and missing chances he ruthlessly put away last season.

So far Salah's slackness hasn't cost Jurgen Klopp's men. A summer of shrewd investment to build on the already substantial progress made under the German is already bearing fruit with five straight wins.

"Of course, it's important that we don't have only one goal-scorer," Klopp said after an impressive 2-1 win over Tottenham on Saturday that should have been a far more comprehensive victory if the visitors had taken their chances. "It's still early. Five games, fantastic we've won all of them, we have improved."

A blockbuster clash on a Champions League night at fortress Anfield is however the perfect stage for Salah to demonstrate to the world he is no one-season wonder.

Spurs face struggling Inter Milan

Tottenham open their Champions League campaign at Inter Milan bidding to banish the growing belief that they lack the steel to win major silverware.

Packed with dynamic young stars and well drilled by charismatic manager Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham appear to have all the ingredients required for a winning recipe.



Having nine Tottenham players among the four World Cup semi-finalists, a group that does not include key players Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min, underlines just how potent their squad should be.

Yet since Pochettino took charge in May 2014, Tottenham have proved English football's ultimate tease.

Without silverware since the 2008 League Cup, Tottenham are in danger of becoming European football's nearly men, a predicament that has raised the stakes for Pochettino and his players.

Saturday's 2-1 home loss to Liverpool once again underlined that Spurs are far from the finished article, as a frustrated Pochettino admitted.

"The reality is this type of game shows we need to improve if we want to be contenders at the end to win some titles," he said.

Harry Kane's fatigued displays so far this season and the distraction of Hugo Lloris's drink-driving arrest have added to the feeling that Pochettino faces the acid test of his managerial skills this season.