LONDON: Liverpool great Ian Rush says Mohamed Salah has outshone Champions League final opponent Cristiano Ronaldo during an incredible record-breaking season.
The Egyptian forward goes into Saturday’s showpiece against defending champions Real Madrid in Kiev needing an unlikely four goals to beat Rush’s Liverpool goals record for a single season.
Salah currently has 44 goals, three short of Rush’s mark from the 1983/84 campaign, when Liverpool won the European Cup, First Division and League Cup treble.
“If he beats my record I would actually bow down to him,” Rush, a Liverpool club ambassador, told Britain’s Press Association. “To score four goals in a final would be an incredible achievement.
“Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez were amazing in their first seasons at Liverpool.
“But I have to say Salah’s been even better than them, not only his goals and assists but his all-round game. What I like about him is that he’s such a humble guy — if someone’s in a better position he passes the ball.”
Salah became the most expensive player in Liverpool history last year when he joined from Roma in an initial £37 million ($45 million) deal, although January signing Virgil van Dijk has since taken the record.
But the 25-year-old has proved a bargain, with 11 of his goals coming in the club’s march to the Champions League final.
He won the golden boot with 32 goals, becoming the highest scorer in a 38-game Premier League season.
And Rush has echoed those who believe Salah should be crowned world player of the year if Liverpool become European champions.
“The two best players in the world over a long time, without doubt, are Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi,” Rush said. “But over the last season Salah has been the best player.
“He played a huge role in helping Egypt to the World Cup and what he’s achieved at Liverpool has been amazing.
“If Liverpool win the Champions League he deserves the best player award, 100 percent,” he added.
Mohamed Salah tops Cristiano Ronaldo this season, says Liverpool legend
Mohamed Salah tops Cristiano Ronaldo this season, says Liverpool legend
- Salah and Ronaldo go head-to-head in Champions League final
- 'Over the last season Salah has been the best player'
Siniakova ends Andreeva Indian Wells defense in third round
- Siniakova, a former doubles number one, will face either Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina or American Ashlyn Krueger for a place in the quarter-finals
INDIAN WELLS, United States: Unseeded Katerina Siniakova ended a frustrated Mirra Andreeva’s Indian Wells title defense on Monday, rallying for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over the eighth-ranked Russian.
The 18-year-old Andreeva had opened her repeat bid with an imperious 6-0, 6-0 demolition of Solana Sierra.
But she was in trouble early and often against 44th-ranked Siniakova in a rollercoaster contest that featured seven service breaks for each player and 43 break chances between them.
When she sailed a swinging volley long to surrender the second set, Andreeva threw her racquet in disgust.
She regrouped to break Siniakova for a 3-2 lead in the third, but Siniakova won the next four games.
The Czech saved a pair of break points in the final game before sealing the match with a shot that struck the net cord and dribbled over as Andreeva could only watch, disappointment sparking another outburst from the Russian as she departed the court.
Siniakova, a former doubles number one, will face either Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina or American Ashlyn Krueger for a place in the quarter-finals.
In other early matches, fifth-seeded American Jessica Pegula shook off a slow start to beat Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Pegula, coming off her fourth career WTA 1000 title at Dubai last month, fired 11 aces with just one double fault as she rallied for the win.
“I think today I had to kind of snap myself back and kind of lock in to not let that get away from me,” said Pegula, who said she was in danger of letting negativity and frustration get the better of her.
“I didn’t think I was playing bad. It was just letting a couple chances, couple breaks here and there (get away), maybe a couple shots that I could have been more aggressive on.”
Later on Stadium Court, world number two Iga Swiatek took on Greece’s Maria Sakkari — the woman she beat in the Indian Wells finals in 2022 and 2024.
Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina, who lifted the Indian wells Trophy in 2023, played Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final match of the night.
