Egyptian international star Mohamed Salah, winger of the English football team Liverpool, is preparing for an unusual season in his professional career next season, which will witness his absence from the lights of the European Champions League for the first time in his career abroad.
Liverpool was unable to qualify for the Champions League next season, after failing to be in the first four positions in the English Premier League ranking table, which qualifies for the continental competition, this season.
Manchester United eliminated Liverpool’s last hopes of playing in the Champions League, after deciding its presence in the first four places in the English Premier League standings this season, after its sweeping 4-1 victory over its guest Chelsea on Thursday, in a postponed match from the 32nd stage of the competition.
And it was confirmed that Liverpool finished his career in the English Premier League this season while he was in fifth place, with 66 points from 37 matches, before playing his final match against his host Southampton (bottom) on Sunday.
Liverpool is 4 points behind Newcastle United, now in fourth place, so that the German coach Jurgen Klopp’s team will be satisfied with participating in the European League next season, and losing its permanent seat in the Champions League, which has been reserved for it since the 2017-2018 season.
4 clubs from the English Premier League will participate in the Champions League next season, which are Manchester City (champion), Arsenal (runner-up), Manchester United and Newcastle, who are currently third and fourth, respectively, so that Salah is away from the most important and strongest tournament at the level of European clubs after 10 seasons he spent in Old continent stadiums.
Liverpool suffered many setbacks during its career in the English Premier League this season, which witnessed its loss against many faltering clubs such as Nottingham Forest, returning to the competition after many years spent in the lower ranks, and Leeds United, who is on the brink of relegation to the First Division (Championship) with its presence. Currently in the penultimate position, Bournemouth, who remained in danger of leaving the tournament until the last stages, as well as Wolverhampton and Brentford.
Liverpool also lost to Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City, and fell into a tie trap against a number of mid-table clubs such as Fulham, Crystal Palace, Fulham and Aston Villa.
In general, Liverpool scored 19 wins against 9 draws and 9 defeats, during its 37 matches that it has played so far in the prestigious tournament.
And Liverpool finished last season in second place with 92 points during its championship career, 23 points behind the balance it might reach if it beat Southampton at the end of the season.
Liverpool also missed the opportunity to be in the Champions League next season, after it bid farewell to the current version of the competition from the round of 16 after losing to Spanish Real Madrid in the home and return matches.
Liverpool lost 2-5 at home to Real Madrid in the first leg, before falling again to the royal team with a 0-1 loss in the second leg.
And Salah’s comrades could have participated in the Champions League even if they failed to be among the first four places in the English Premier League, if they were crowned the continental championship title this season, as the European Champions League regulation allows the participation of the title-winning team in the next version of the competition.
For the first time, Mohamed Salah has been absent from the Champions League since the start of his professional career abroad, when he joined the Swiss ranks of Basel at the beginning of the 2012-2013 season, as he was always appearing in the competition matches, whether in the qualifying rounds or the group stage.
During the past ten seasons, Mohamed Salah participated in the European Champions League with the Italian teams Basel, Roma, Chelsea and Liverpool, England, where he played 10 matches in the qualifying rounds for the tournament, during which he scored 4 goals and made two goals for his colleagues.
On the other hand, Salah played 79 matches in the Champions League, starting from the group stage with all the teams whose colors he defended, in which he scored 44 goals, to share the record as the most African player scoring goals in the tournament with retired Ivorian Didier Drogba, while he shares with him the 14th place in the list. The historical scorers of the Champions League in general.
Salah participated in only two occasions in the Champions League from the qualifying rounds, before he moved to play in the European League, where the first time was the 2013-2014 season with Basel, and the second was in the Roma shirt in the 2016-2017 season, otherwise the Liverpool star participated in the rest of the seasons, starting from The role of groups.
