Mohamed Salah used the pain of Liverpool’s 2018 Champions League final defeat as motivation to reinvent himself physically and mentally, according to club legend Ian Rush.
Rush, Liverpool’s all-time leading scorer, has recalled an emotional conversation with Salah following the Egyptian’s injury against Real Madrid CF in Kyiv, a moment widely regarded as one of the most painful nights of the forward’s career.
Salah is preparing to end what has been described as an extraordinary nine-year spell with Liverpool FC, during which he helped restore the club to the summit of English and European football.
The Egyptian forward joined Liverpool from AS Roma in 2017 after an earlier difficult experience in the Premier League with Chelsea FC under manager José Mourinho.
His return to England proved transformative.
During the 2017-18 season, Salah produced one of the most prolific individual campaigns in Premier League history, scoring 32 league goals and adding 10 more in European competition as Liverpool advanced to the Champions League final.
Across all competitions, the Egyptian contributed 44 goals and 16 assists in a remarkable debut season at Anfield.
However, the campaign ended in heartbreak in the Ukrainian capital.
Salah suffered a serious shoulder injury following a collision with Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos during the final in Kyiv. Visibly distressed, he was forced off the pitch before Liverpool eventually lost 3-1.
Speaking in a documentary focused on Salah’s farewell, Rush explained how deeply the incident affected the player.
“After he was injured by Sergio Ramos in the Champions League final in Kyiv, Salah told me, ‘This will never happen to me again.’”
Rush said the injury became a defining turning point in Salah’s professional approach.
The former Liverpool striker revealed that Salah significantly changed his training methods in response to the setback.
“He developed his physical program to become stronger, and focused more on balance training and strengthening the core muscles.”
According to Rush, the response from Salah came quickly and decisively.
Only one year after the defeat in Kyiv, Liverpool returned to the Champions League final, this time facing Tottenham Hotspur FC in Madrid.
Rush recalled how Salah immediately made his presence felt on the biggest stage.
“Only 12 months later, in the Madrid final, I had barely sat down when Salah scored the go-ahead goal.”
That victory marked one of several major honours Salah would collect during his Liverpool career.
The Egyptian won the Premier League title twice, lifted the Champions League trophy and claimed the Golden Boot award on four occasions.
He also secured two Playmaker awards and three PFA Player of the Year honours during his time at Anfield.
Rush additionally highlighted Salah’s remarkable physical durability.
Despite the intensity of Premier League football, the forward missed only eight matches because of muscle or physical injuries between 2017 and 2025.
Salah admitted in the documentary that the memory of the injury against Real Madrid remains painful.
According to the film, the Egyptian still struggles to watch footage of the incident and avoids clips showing the moment of the collision.
Yet the experience ultimately became one of the defining moments of his career.
Rather than limiting him, the injury pushed Salah to improve physically and mentally, helping him evolve into one of Liverpool’s greatest players and one of the Premier League’s modern icons.
