Say the names Real Madrid and Mohamed Salah to any football fan and one image races to the front of the mind: that of the Liverpool forward being hauled to the floor by Sergio Ramos in the 2018 Champions League final and writhing in pain from a dislocated shoulder. The short and long-term ramifications were huge. It was 0-0 when Ramos pulled what Jurgen Klopp described as “a wrestling move” on Salah and forced him off in the 31st minute, paving the way for Madrid to go on and win the final 3-1.
Salah was left with physical and emotional scars. It torpedoed his preparations for the World Cup with Egypt as he missed the first game against Uruguay, later confessing he "cried on the bus and on the toilet" before that game. Although he scored in the other two games against Saudi Arabia and Russia, he was far from the peak of his powers as his side limped out of the tournament at the first hurdle, having lost all three group-stage matches. Salah later called it "the worst thing to happen to a player", and when Madrid and Liverpool were paired in the 2022 Champions League final, the Egyptian wrote on Twitter: "We have a score to settle".
Salah has not been able to settle that score. Liverpool lost that final too, and have been beaten by Madrid in five of the six games played since the Egyptian has been with the Reds, with an aggregate score of four to 13.
Wednesday's game at Anfield, however, is the perfect occasion for the Reds and the red-hot Salah to at last exact revenge and beat European football's aristocrats. Liverpool are top of the Premier League table and led the Champions League standings after four rounds too, having won 16 out of 18 games in a record-breaking start to the campaign under new boss Arne Slot.
Whatever happens on Wednesday will not erase the memory of what happened in Kyiv. The final had a lasting effect on Salah, and for all the misery it caused him, it has made him the man he is today: the best player in the Premier League once again, in the best shape of his life and with Liverpool fans urging the club to do whatever it takes to tie him to a new contract and keep him.