Newly minted PFA Player of the Year Mohamed Salah will face off against his former Roma teammates on Tuesday when Liverpool welcome the Italian club for the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals.
This is the first Champions League semi-final the Reds have made it into in a decade, and while very few people would have predicted it at the beginning of the season, the idea of playing in the final is suddenly a tantalizing and real prospect. But first Liverpool must find a way past AS Roma, who have proved a resilient team. They’ve twice rebounded from bad away legs to qualify for the next rounds.
For Salah, though, the game will have additional importance, since it will be the first time playing against his former teammates, whom he just left last summer.
“I played for Roma for two years, I had a great time with the club, with the fans, I fought for the club and now I have to play against them,” Salah said about the upcoming clash. ”We text each other, as players, every week - we’re still good friends. I’m very excited to go there and I love the fans, they love me, [there are] more emotions. I hope we are going to win but also I wish them good luck.”
Mo, buddy, that’s sweet, but let’s not go around wishing our rivals good luck all willy-nilly, ok? Hugs, high fives, and pats on the back are all acceptable, but then you need to get back to working on upping that goal tally of yours.