Boost for Reds as Salah returns to training ahead of CL clash

Mohamed Salah made his much-anticipated return to Liverpool training on Tuesday following the Africa Cup of Nations as the club prepare to face Marseille in the Champions League.

A smiling Salah was put through his paces during a workout with the rest of the squad at the club’s training centre on the eve of the match in France.

The return of the Egypt forward has been a major talking point after he took aim at Liverpool in an explosive interview early last month.

Salah accused the club of throwing him “under the bus” after he was benched for three games in a row and said he had no relationship with manager Arne Slot.

But he appeared as a substitute in a 2-0 Premier League win against Brighton on December 13, providing an assist, and Slot subsequently said the club had moved on from the furore.

Last week the Liverpool boss said he welcomed Salah’s return, refusing to divulge the content of his conversations with the 33-year-old, whose team finished fourth at the Africa Cup of Nations.

“Even if I had 15 attackers I still would have been happy if he would have come back, but that’s not our current situation,” the Dutchman said ahead of Saturday’s 1-1 draw with struggling Burnley.

Slot also said before the game at Anfield that he was unsure whether the forward would face Marseille on Wednesday.

Liverpool are currently ninth in the league phase of the Champions League.

The top eight qualify automatically for the last 16 while teams placed from ninth to 24th face a play-off round.

Salah is Liverpool’s third-highest goalscorer of all time with 250 goals in 421 appearances, winning two Premier League titles and the Champions League since joining from Roma in 2017.

He signed a lucrative new two-year contract last year as he played a starring role in guiding Liverpool to a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title.

But he has been a shadow of his former self during Liverpool’s struggles this season, managing just five goals in all competitions.

Liverpool’s Premier League defence collapsed with a run of six defeats in seven matches starting in late September.

The club are now unbeaten in 12 games in all competitions but are 14 points behind leaders Arsenal.

Meanwhile, Liverpool may boast a combined 24 European titles, but they still have their work cut out to ensure their tickets to the knock-out stages of the Champions League.

Arsenal, Bayern Munich, holders Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and Atalanta have all already secured their places in at least the knock-out phase play-offs.

This leaves a number of European heavyweights still unsure of their presence when the business end of the Champions League begins.

Under-fire Slot has stopped the rot with Liverpool now on a 12-match unbeaten run but with their chances of defending their Premier League crown dwindling with each passing week, the Anfield hierarchy will be putting more and more emphasis on a successful Champions League run.

The six-time champions visit the cauldron-esque atmosphere of Marseille’s Stade Velodrome on Wednesday where a win would constitute a big step towards booking their place in the last 16 and ease the pressure on Slot following a run of four successive draws in the league.

The Dutchman said ahead of Liverpool’s frustrating 1-1 draw at home to newly-promoted Burnley last weekend that he was “happy” to have Mohamed Salah return from Africa Cup of Nations duty.

Trailing slightly behind the main pack of qualification contenders are Hansi Flick’s La Liga-leading Barcelona, whose 11-match winning run in all competitions ended with a 2-1 loss at Real Sociedad at the weekend.

Last year’s semi-finalists sit back in 15th place with 10 points, and Flick is eager to quickly turn the page on Sunday’s domestic setback as they make the trip to Slavia Prague.

“The result doesn’t reflect our performance,” said Flick. “We have to keep going in this direction.

“On Wednesday, it’s time to win in Prague.”

Agencies