Liverpool suffered a drubbing at the hands of Real Madrid despite Mohamed Salah giving it his all, and Jürgen Klopp needs to show his players a harsh reality.
There were no viral social media posts vowing revenge from Mohamed Salah this time around. This time, the Egyptian sought to seek retribution for the misery Real Madrid had caused him on the pitch, and on the pitch alone. But even that wasn’t enough.
The cruel truth is that for a brief fleeting moment, it looked like it just might be. As a raucous Anfield night welcomed an in-form Liverpool team, the first 15 minutes showed a vintage performance. Relentless pressing. The crowd bouncing. Onslaught after onslaught on the Real Madrid defense.
At the heart of it all was Mohamed Salah. He kept weaving through the Real Madrid defense, causing problems time and time again. It was his brilliantly weighted pass that opened the scoring for the Reds, with Darwin Núñez pulling off a spectacular finish to do the Egyptian’s pass justice.
Then through a touch of fortune Salah found the back of the net, and in turn made history, becoming Liverpool’s top goal-scorer in European competitions. If he hadn’t already cemented his name as an icon and one of the best in the club’s history, that certainly will.
But it wasn’t just the goals and the assists from Salah that made his performance against Real Madrid a vintage one. It was his overall performance. He completed the most dribbles (4) and created the most chances (3) out of anyone on the pitch. And that’s despite Real Madrid scoring five goals on the night.
The harsh reality is that Salah was let down by his teammates’ errors. He shone the brightest in the Liverpool team, but one man cannot do it on his own. After all, he is a human, not an ethereal deity capable of wielding power beyond this realm.
Jürgen Klopp’s team has regressed a lot in the space of a season, and while Salah has been put in the same bracket, Tuesday night’s game showed he cannot be placed in the same category. Salah is very much still one of the best players in the world. His 19 goals and nine assists this season in just 34 games is a testament to that.
But in order to make sure he can perform at his very best, Klopp needs to rebuild the team around him. Real Madrid had already exposed in last season’s Champions League final how this Liverpool team needed a refresh. This time, Carlo Ancelotti’s side didn’t just expose the need for a refresh, but a complete refurbishment at Anfield.
Klopp has a tough job on his hands. Not just heading into the second leg, where a miracle is still possible, but over the long-term future of the club. He’s built teams from scratch before, but he’s never rebuilt one of his own. He’s never had to say goodbye to players he’s worked with for so long just because they have fulfilled their shelf life.
That is what he must do now. Salah showed against Real Madrid in brief fleeting moments that this team is capable of a lot more, and it’s time for Liverpool to once again give him the power to wield all his quality once more.
There has never been as crucial of a transfer window as the one coming up this summer. With Salah’s contract expiring in 2025, it’s not just Liverpool’s fate that hangs in the balance but the Egyptian’s very own. Another poor season, and he might not be so keen on sticking around the club, and a departure like that is one Liverpool wants to avoid.
