Mo Salah, Liverpool's Hope of Proving Its Worth in Europe

LIVERPOOL, TUESDAY – By likening the 2025-2026 UEFA Champions League to a video game universe, Liverpool can be regarded as the "last king." Not only is the team the most sought after to be conquered, but "The Reds" are also the favorites to become champions. However, Liverpool's journey to meet these expectations depends on the prowess of "The Egyptian King," Mohamed Salah.

It is not Paris Saint-Germain, the defending champion, that is the most feared. The curiosity is faced by 35 other contestants in this season's Champions League. Liverpool holds the title of English Premier League champion, the best domestic competition in the world, as well as being the club that has been most aggressive in strengthening its squad during the last summer transfer window. They are the main benchmark for the best teams in Europe at present.

Opta, using supercomputer simulations, has placed Arne Slot's team at the top of the list of predicted winners of the 2025-2026 Champions League. Liverpool has a very high chance of advancing to the quarterfinals, reaching 72.7 percent.

Liverpool's hopes of reaching the prestigious semifinals are still above 50 percent, at 51.5 percent. Opta has Liverpool favored by 34 percent to play at the Ferenc Puskas Stadium in Budapest, Hungary, the venue for the final.

The championship odds for Liverpool are 20.4 percent. The other two teams considered to have double-digit championship percentages are Arsenal (16 percent) and PSG (12.1 percent).

However, it is still too early for Liverpool to discuss championship prospects in Europe. They must first prove their performance in the eight initial matches. Last season, the Reds performed flawlessly in the eight qualifying matches, securing victories. Their progress was halted by PSG in the round of 16.

The evidence is expected by their supporters when hosting Atletico Madrid on Thursday (18/9/2025) at 02:00 WIB, at Anfield Stadium, England. The Reds are in a favorable position to defeat the guests from the Spanish capital.

They welcome the new season of the Champions League with a perfect collection of victories in four English League matches. Meanwhile, Atletico is still struggling in La Liga.

"The Rojiblancos" had to wait until the fourth match to secure their first victory. The initial positive result was achieved after defeating Villarreal 2-0 on Sunday (14/9/2025 WIB). In the three previous matches, Diego Simeone's team only garnered two points.

In addition, Liverpool also has an impressive record against Spanish representatives in the group stage of the new format of the Champions League. They defeated Real Madrid, 2-0, and overcame Girona, 1-0, last season.

Meanwhile, Atletico has not won in the last eight encounters against English representatives in the Champions League group stage, recording four draws and four losses.

Nevertheless, Atletico still looms over Liverpool with a painful defeat in the round of 16 of the 2019-2020 edition. At that time, Liverpool fell 2-3 at Anfield, thus being eliminated and failing to defend their Champions League title.

"There are no easy opponents in the Champions League. We'll face big matches both at home and away," Slot said, as reported by the Liverpool Echo on Tuesday (September 16, 2025).

"We will begin a very busy period this season both domestically and in Europe, but we are very excited to face the challenges ahead," he stated.

After the arrival of great forward players such as Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, and Alexander Isak, Salah remains the main actor in the attacking line of the Reds. As the oldest forward (33 years old), Salah serves as both a role model and a source of motivation for other Liverpool players to pursue victory.

Through two goals and an assist, Salah has demonstrated that his influence at Anfield remains significant this season. He also scored his 45th goal via a penalty, securing a dramatic victory over Burnley last weekend.

However, Salah faces a challenge. He has experienced a drought in scoring when facing teams whose quality of play and individual squad capabilities are on par with the Reds.

Salah's sharpness faded when facing AC Milan, Real Madrid, and PSG in the Champions League last season. This condition was one of the reasons for Liverpool's early elimination in Europe.

The blunt symptoms were also evident at the beginning of this season. The sharpness and magic of Salah were not visible when Liverpool faced Arsenal in the third week, August 31. Not wanting to lose influence, Salah is determined to perform better when facing Atletico.

"We are still at the beginning of the season to adapt to the new system. We are trying to push ourselves and the team to reach the limits of our capabilities," Salah said as quoted by the Liverpool website.

Atletico is undeterred in heading to England. The inconsistent performance in Spain, marked by sitting in 11th place, is said by winger Giuliano Simeone not to affect his team's preparations ahead of the match against Liverpool. According to Simeone, the result of this match could actually serve as a turning point for Los Rojiblancos' journey this season.

"We're looking forward to the match (against Liverpool) with great enthusiasm. The Champions League is always a very exciting competition, and we want to get three points. We want to prove that Atletico can compete in all competitions," Simeone told Marca.