Salah, the underdog on the brink of a place among Europe's elite
PFA Player of the Year has his chance to outdo Rush and get a stab at Ballon d'Or
Life's great underdogs occupy a special place in Juergen Klopp's heart.
Robin Hood, Rocky Balboa and James Bond all draw admiration from the Liverpool manager, but what Hollywood idea factories have dreamed up is now unfolding right before his eyes.
| LIVERPOOL | AS ROMA |
In Mohamed Salah, he has an amalgamation of all three.
This season alone, the newly crowned PFA Player of the Year has stolen from the nouveau riche, overcome the odds and remains a likeable character while playing by his own rules.
Tomorrow morning (Singapore time), the vaunted "Egyptian king" will aim to take another seismic step in his attempt to lay siege to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's duopoly.
A former Chelsea misfit winning the Ballon d'Or has always carried a sense of inevitability to it. No one, however, could have envisaged Salah eclipsing Kevin de Bruyne for that mantle.
The Belgium international was often impressive at the heart of Manchester City's unassailable march to the EPL title, but his Reds counterpart has remained continually spellbinding.
Overcoming Roma when they travel to Anfield for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final would take Salah a step closer to a merited place among the continent's elite.
A reunion with the Serie A giants could not have come at a more fitting time in a momentous season. It was 34 years ago that fate paired his present and former employers in the latter stages of the European Cup and Ian Rush set the bar for the most goals in a single campaign.
For far too long at Anfield, players surrounded by greatness have often been hailed as superior to their modern successors; Steven Gerrard could ultimately never stack up against the majesty of Kenny Dalglish while Philippe Coutinho was a pale imitation of John Barnes.
Luis Suarez and Fernando Torres, similarly, were unable to hold a candle to Rush's legacy.
That Salah is threatening to usurp Liverpool's master marksman with only seven goals and potentially six games to do it in highlights how the times are belatedly beginning to change.
Perceptions may also shift in the Ballon d'Or if the 25-year-old heads into this summer's World Cup with a Champions League winners' medal.
RONALDO
Ronaldo swept to power on the strength of lifting Europe's premier club competition before shining at a major international tournament.
He kept that top honour out of Messi's grasp with another Man-of-the-Match display in last season's final as Real Madrid recorded back-to-back crowns and are eyeing a third now.
Anyone sharing the stage during the mercurial pair's decade of shared dominance has fallen victim to what is little more than a glorified exercise in paying lip service.
Only Xavi and Neymar have made the final three-man shortlist more than once while the likes of Torres, Andres Iniesta, Franck Ribery, Manuel Neuer and Antoine Griezmann all found themselves making fleeting appearances purely to make up the numbers.
Should Salah stare down Ronaldo in Kiev next month, it would spark an overdue changing of the guard in what was previously a two-horse contest between the generation's greatest.
Their respective paths to the top could not be any more distinct; one was allowed to develop in surroundings designed to help them flourish while the other toiled through numerous setbacks to become one of the most prolific goalscorers in the game's modern age.
Those that have watched Salah regularly have seen a player who makes football fun again.
Only those enslaved to the status quo would begrudge him the greatest individual accolade.
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