Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has warned 41-goal forward Mohamed Salah to expect a rough ride from his former team-mates when the Reds face Roma in Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final first-leg clash at Anfield.
Salah has been a revelation during his debut season on Merseyside following a £37m summer move from the Serie A outfit and was crowned Professional Footballers’ Association player of the year on Sunday.
The 25-year-old endured an underwhelming spell at Chelsea after joining the Blues from Basel in 2014, but has scored 31 Premier League goals this term, equalling the record for a 38-game campaign.
Salah is viewed as key in Liverpool’s bid to conquer Europe, having netted nine times in this season’s competition, and Klopp expects Roma’s backline to pay particularly close attention to his leading marksman.
“Italian defenders are famous for not having friendly games so I think Mo will feel pretty early in the game that they are not his teammates anymore, and then he can strike back in a football way,” said Klopp.
“It’s pretty normal in football, it happens constantly that players change clubs and managers change clubs. I had it with Dortmund about two years ago.
“It’s a normal game but it feels quite special because you know much more about the other team than you usually know and you are more interested in the other team than you usually are.
“I’m pretty sure Mo follows the whole season of Roma. He had a fantastic time there, he became the player there which we now have here. Big credit to all the staff and players at Roma because they are all part of his development.
“It’s strange but, in the end, we are professionals.”
Anfield is renowned for its white-hot atmosphere on European evenings, although Liverpool were forced to apologise following their quarter-final showdown after Manchester City’s team bus was pelted with cans and bottles by supporters.
Klopp has called on the club’s fans to channel their enthusiasm appropriately. He added: “Everybody knows how nice and wonderful Rome is, not all the people know how wonderful Liverpool is.
“We can show how wonderful the Liverpool people are, and the city and the spirit of the club. We can show that in 20 minutes before the game and then the whole world knows it. All the people who are with Liverpool deserve that we show that face.”
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