Why Mohamed Salah needs to rediscover UEFA Champions League form to 'end season on a high' ahead of Liverpool exit

React to this story

Liverpool's Curtis Jones has paid tribute to his team-mate and club legend Mohamed Salah, as the Egyptian’s time on Merseyside draws to a close. Salah announced last month that he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season after nine years. A lackluster season so far leaves The Reds with just the UEFA Champions League on offer in the final weeks as they look to end Salah's spell with a trophy.

‘Buy someone who is box office’ – Gerrard on potential Salah replacements

Video credit: TNT Sports

”This season has been up and down, but now we’re at the final stage of the season, we’ve heard the news that Mo is going to go so it would be nice to finish on a high.”

These are the words of Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones as his side set their sights on a mouth-watering UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes this week, live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.

Jones, 25, was paying tribute to his soon-to-be-departing team-mate Mohamed Salah, who announced last month he would leave Liverpool at the end of the season, after nine years on Merseyside in which he helped The Reds to a glut of silverware, including two Premier League titles, the UEFA Champions League, the Emirates FA Cup and two Carabao Cups.

Transfers

Salah set for Trabzonspor as club confirm negotiations and arrival in Turkey

an hour ago

Salah, whose 255 goals for the club puts him third on their all-time leading scorer list, behind Ian Rush (346) and Roger Hunt (285), has endured a difficult campaign this term, netting just 10 times.

Yet Jones told TNT Sports that The Reds were even more determined to claim a final piece of silverware to give Salah a fitting farewell.

”I think that Mo would want [to leave the club by winning a trophy],” Jones said. ”He knows that we’ve got his back as he’s always had ours.”

Jones was speaking ahead of Liverpool’s Emirates FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester City, a match in which The Reds were soundly beaten with Salah himself missing a penalty, narrowing his chances of parting glory down to Europe’s biggest prize.

Off the back of his spot-kick miss and overall performance at the Etihad, TNT Sports pundit Ally McCoist described Salah as a shadow of the player he has been at the club.

"It's a shame. Because he looks like a shadow of the man that lit up this league, lit up this country. And it's a little bit of a shame that he's going out this way," McCoist lamented on commentary.

But despite the potentially daunting prospect of facing the defending European champions over two legs, Salah’s overall record in the competition is one that ought to provide encouragement.

Having recently reached his 50-goal milestone in the Champions League, Salah finds himself ranked joint-10th in the overall list, however, the 47 he has scored in Liverpool colours is the fifth most of any player in the competition since his Anfield arrival in 2017.

His total goal contributions are even more impressive with the addition of his 19 assists putting his overall total at 66, only behind Robert Lewandowksi (79) and Kylian Mbappe (87).

CL Since 2017-18	Goals+Assists
Kylian Mbappe	87
Robert Lewandowski	79
Mohamed Salah	66
Erling Haaland	62
Vinicius Junior	59
Harry Kane	59

Salah scores 50th CL goal with 'unstoppable shot', as Gerrard celebrates

Video credit: TNT Sports

Salah’s 50th goal was something special, a trademark curled effort on his left foot from the edge of the penalty area in the rout of Galatasaray in the round of 16 second leg.

However, this was just his third goal in this season’s competition and something he will hope to improve on against PSG over both legs, and hopefully beyond.

His best Champions League campaign for the club saw him hit 10 goals in a remarkable 2017/18 debut season as he helped his side to the final.

Sadly, Liverpool were beaten in the showpiece match by Real Madrid, with the Egyptian’s intended impact on the day being halted by a shoulder injury following a clash with Sergio Ramos.

He would make up for that disappointment 12 months later, scoring the opening goal from the penalty spot in the final against Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid as The Reds ran out 2-0 winners to lift the trophy.

Highlights: Liverpool cruise into quarters as Salah scores landmark goal

Video credit: TNT Sports

Salah and the Reds reached the final again in 2022, but were once again denied by Real Madrid at the Stade de France in Paris.

In fact, since that defeat, this is the first season the club have made it beyond the round of 16, losing to this week’s opponents PSG at that stage last year.

If Salah is to help Liverpool exact any measure of revenge against the French side, he will likely need to do something he has hasn’t done in four previous meeting against them by registering either a goal or an assist – although he did score his penalty in last season’s shootout defeat.

Mohamed Salah's complete Champions League record

	Team	Played	Goals	Assists
2013/2014	Basel	6	2	0
2014/2015	Chelsea	2	0	0
2015/2016	Roma	7	1	0
2017/2018	Liverpool	13	10	4
2018/2019	Liverpool	12	5	2
2019/2020	Liverpool	8	4	2
2020/2021	Liverpool	10	6	1
2021/2022	Liverpool	13	8	2
2022/2023	Liverpool	8	8	2
2024/2025	Liverpool	9	3	4
2025/2026	Liverpool	9	3	2
TOTAL		97	50	19

All Stats via Opta

Fowler: 'Nearly impossible' to replace Salah

Former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler told TNT Sports that Salah would be remembered among the "best players to have ever played" for The Reds.

”What he brought to Liverpool has been incredible," Fowler said. "I don’t think anyone envisaged the amount of goals he has scored, the beauty with which he scores.

"Technically, at times we can question him as a player, but his numbers are incredible. When you talk about the best players who have ever played for Liverpool, he gets a mention. He absolutely gets a mention.

Mohamed Salah celebrates his goal against Galatasaray last month

Image credit: Getty Images

"But what too many people don’t say is that he is a Premier League legend as well – he genuinely is. He will be a massive, massive loss.”

On how Liverpool may look to replace the Egyptian, Fowler continued: ”That is the million-dollar question… it’s impossible.

"But Liverpool over the years have had a real knack of replacing players who scored goals and did really well for the club.

"Without sounding too egotistical, Rushy [Ian Rush] went and I came in, I left and Michael [Owen] was there, then you’ve got [Fernando] Torres, [Luis] Suarez, so Liverpool have had a real history of pulling quality players out when they are gone.

"The next one has obviously got to try and [replace] Mo Salah, which is nearly the impossible task.”

How to watch Paris Saint-Germain v Liverpool?

Paris Saint-Germain v Liverpool will be live on TNT Sports 1 and HBO Max on Wednesday, April 8.

TNT Sports is available across all major TV platforms, offering a line-up of up to four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), and up to six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.

You can subscribe to TNT Sports through HBO Max, BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.

To find out where your local establishments showing TNT Sports are, use our Pub Finder.

For the latest information on which football matches are on TNT Sports, click here.

Here is the TNT Sports schedule and TV guide. And for the full Premier League schedule, click here.

Transfers