Is there any way back for Mohamed Salah in the Ballon d'Or race? Liverpool legend striving for a purpose in final weeks of glorious season

When Liverpool faced reigning Premier League champions Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on February 23, Salah slotted home the opener from a near-post Szoboszlai flick before teeing up the Hungarian for the Reds' second goal in a 2-0 win that sent Arne Slot's side 11 points clear at the top of the table.

It was a hugely significant day for Salah, in every sense. Not since Lionel Messi in 2024-15 had a player in one of Europe's 'Big Five' leagues scored and assisted in 11 separate games during the same season - and it was one of the main reasons why Salah was the clear frontrunner to win the 2025 Ballon d'Or.

When asked afterwards about his chances of individual glory afterwards, the ever-humble Salah preferred to focus on team trophies. "Let’s win the Premier League and the Champions League!" the right-winger told TNT Sports. "Because the Ballon d’Or, everybody knows sometimes [other] stuff is involved there."

Salah obviously had a point about the rather dubious nature of the Ballon d'Or voting. The award doesn't always go to the best player in the world over the course of the year in question, and we've seen several worthy winners snubbed since the turn of the century. Wesley Sneijder and Franck Ribery were pretty much robbed in 2010 and 2013, respectively, while Pavel Nedved was as surprised as everyone else that he beat Thierry Henry to top spot in 2003. "For me, Henry is the best forward in the world now," the Czech said.

Worse was to follow for the Frenchman, who finished fourth the very next year despite scoring 30 goals during Arsenal's flawless Premier League title triumph. However, while the Gunners were unbeatable in England, they underwhelmed in Europe. Arsenal didn't even make the knockout stage of the 2002-03 Champions League, while they were upset in the quarter-finals by Claudio Ranieri's Chelsea the following season.

When one considers that Henry also failed to make a big impact at Euro 2004, his Ballon d'Or disappointment wasn't all that surprising. Winning either the Champions League or a major international tournament has become imperative for any legitimate contender over the past two decades - which explains why Salah no longer has any chance of finishing top of the pile this year.

Salah is still having an extraordinary season. He's been directly involved in more goals in all competitions than any other player across Europe's 'Big Five' leagues (54 - nine more than the new Ballon d'Or favourite, Raphinha). The Liverpool ace also tops the overall assists chart, with 22. However, even such remarkable numbers, coupled with a Premier League winners' medal, is now highly unlikely to be enough to secure the Ballon d'Or.

The problem for Salah is not just that Liverpool are out of the Champions League; it's also that so many teams containing credible Ballon d'Or rivals are still in it. Dembele is in the form of his life for PSG, who should at least make the semi-finals, Bayern Munich's Harry Kane has already broken the record for most goals in a single campaign for an English player (he's up to 11 now!), while Kylian Mbappe has already surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo's debut-season tally at Real Madrid.

And then there's the brilliant Barcelona duo, Raphinha and Lamine Yamal, who look more than capable of propelling the Blaugrana all the way to Munich. It would certainly be a colossal surprise if one of that world-class quintet did not end up winning the Ballon d'Or based on their performances in the tournament that will definitely hold the most sway with voters in a year without a major competition at international level.

There is, then, a concern among Liverpool fans that Salah will be hit hard by the Ballon d'Or blow. He certainly didn't look anything like his usual self in the Reds' calamitous Carabao Cup final loss to Newcastle, which arrived just five days after their Champions League elimination.

Nearly every outfield starter on the day performed poorly, but Salah was anonymous. Given he'd only scored in one of his previous seven finals for Liverpool (a penalty against Tottenham in Madrid), the hope was that he'd bounce back from being nullified by Nuno Mendes by running rings around Tino Livramento, but Salah never showed up at Wembley.

For the first time since moving to Merseyside from Roma in the summer of 2017, 'the Egyptian King' failed to either get off a shot or create a chance in a game in which he played 90 minutes. In that context, the international break probably came at the ideal time for Salah - and his Liverpool team-mates, many of whom have looked mentally and physically drained in recent weeks.

Of course, the strain of travelling to and from games in various parts of the world doesn't help recovery from fatigue, but several players have definitely benefited from the change of scenery, as Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Alexis Mac Allister all got among the goals while they were on international duty, much to the delight of Slot.

"It's always nice if the players go to a different environment and then come back to us after a positive experience," the Dutchman said in his press conference ahead of Wednesday's Premier League clash with Everton at Anfield. "And a few of our players showed themselves in a very good way again."

Crucially, Salah was also among those to impress, with the 32-year-old bagging a goal and an assist in Egypt's 2-0 win over Ethiopia in his first outing after going missing at Wembley. The time away may well have "refreshed" Salah, as Slot put it, but also refocused him by putting things into perspective.

The Ballon d'Or was never Salah's primary objective this season, and nor was the Champions League. As he told Sky Sports at the turn of the year, "The only thing in my mind is I want Liverpool to win the league and I just want to be part of that."

With Liverpool 12 points clear of second-placed Arsenal going into this round of midweek fixtures, the title is now within touching distance - and Salah hasn't just been a part of the Reds' challenge, he's been utterly integral to it.

Salah has featured in all 28 of Liverpool's games this season - only in four of them has he failed to directly contribute to a goal - with the forward scoring 27 and setting up a further 17. As a result, he's now perfectly placed to become just the second player in the history of the Premier League to register 20-plus goals and assists across a single campaign. Henry was the first, of course, and his demonstration of all-round excellence in 2002-03 didn't win him the Ballon d'Or.

However, it's often forgotten that his historic statistics didn't win him the Premier League either, with Arsenal finishing as runners-up to Manchester United. One can be sure, then, that Salah will not want for motivation in the closing stages of the season.

While Liverpool have a healthy lead at the summit of the standings, the title is not yet won and their talisman will be determined to ensure that what he feels is the "best season" of his career to date does not end without him lifting the trophy that matters most to him: the Premier League - not the Ballon d'Or.