Mohamed Salah threatens Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo Ballon d鈥橭r stranglehold

Mohamed Salah shows the sort of balance against Roma that has invited comparisons with Lionel Messi. (AFP)
  • Messi and Ronaldo have won the award for the past ten years
  • Salah has emerged as a genuine rival after scoring 43 goals this season

LIVERPOOL: Mohamed Salah could be the man to finally break the Ronaldo-Messi duopoly at the top of world football after the Liverpool forward burnished his soaring reputation with a mesmerising Champions League performance against Roma.
Real Madrid鈥檚 Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona鈥檚 Lionel Messi have locked down the Ballon d鈥橭r award for a decade, winning five gongs apiece 鈥� for the past seven years they have occupied the top two slots.
But Salah is now second favorite behind Ronaldo for this year鈥檚 award after scoring his 42nd and 43rd goals of the season in a thrilling 5-2 victory for Liverpool in the Champions League semifinal first leg.
After his first strike against his former club on Tuesday, the man dubbed by fans as the 鈥淓gyptian King鈥� stood motionless, hands raised in apology, as bedlam broke out on a night for the ages at Anfield.
Salah鈥檚 curling effort arrowed into the top corner with such accuracy his manager Jurgen Klopp labelled it 鈥渁 genius strike.鈥�
Soon after came the forward鈥檚 signature finish, a cute dink over advancing Roma goalkeeper Alisson for his 43rd goal in 47 games for Liverpool.
When Salah, 25, made the move from the Italian capital back to the Premier League just 10 months ago for 鈧�42 million ($51 million), there were plenty who felt Roma had got the better deal. Salah after all was a talented player, but who often lacked an end product.
It also came just a few weeks before Neymar鈥檚 move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for a world record 鈧�222 million revolutionized the transfer market.
The Brazilian鈥檚 desire to leave the Catalan giants was tied to his ambition to beat Messi and Ronaldo to the Ballon d鈥橭r by stepping out of Messi鈥檚 shadow.
Now, though, it is Salah who has emerged as the pretender to end the Messi-Ronaldo domination by not only scoring the quantity of goals that have become the pair鈥檚 trademark but doing it when it really matters, in the latter stages of the Champions League.
鈥淚f you think he is the best in the world, write it or say it,鈥� urged Klopp, who has been credited with bringing out Salah鈥檚 previously untapped potential.
鈥淭o be the best in the world you need to do that over a longer period I think, and there are a few others that are not so bad.鈥�
Heavily left-footed, small, speedy and with a low center of gravity, Salah鈥檚 characteristics are far more like those of Messi than the muscular goal-machine Ronaldo.
鈥淚n a certain light, at certain points, it is possible to glimpse in Salah a little of Messi鈥檚 afterglow,鈥� wrote Rory Smith in the New York Times.
And he demonstrated another Messi-like quality in showing no mercy to Roma.
Chasing his first hat-trick in the Champions League, Salah would have been forgiven for going for goal as he bore down on Alisson once more after half-time.
But he showed why he is considered one of the game鈥檚 more unselfish superstars by instead creating another two goals for strike partners Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.
When Salah left the field to a standing ovation 15 minutes from time, Liverpool led 5-0.
鈥淯nstoppable (when Salah鈥檚 on the pitch),鈥� said the back page of The Times.
Two late Roma away goals have at least given the Italians hope of recreating the incredible comeback they staged from a 4-1 first-leg deficit against Barca in the quarter-finals.
For once it is Salah鈥檚 turn to lead the way where Messi faltered on his return to the Eternal City next week.
Messi is almost certain to win a La Liga and Copa del Rey double and Ronaldo could lead Real Madrid to a third consecutive Champions League after another bucketload of goals this season.
But Salah is the coming man and after bagging the African and English players鈥� player of the year crowns, it is hard to back against him also conquering the world.