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Ahmad Salah

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A five-scene nightmare… City star shatters Salah’s dreams

Manchester City vs Liverpool
Manchester City
Liverpool
FA Cup
Paris Saint-Germain vs Liverpool
Paris Saint-Germain
Champions League
M. Salah
M. Guehi
England
France
Egypt

Another disaster for the Egyptian king with Liverpool

Mohamed Salah endured yet another tragic night with Liverpool, adding to a painful narrative as Manchester City brought the Reds’ FA Cup campaign to an end with a 4–0 victory on Saturday, in a match that once again raises the familiar question: what has happened to the Premier League champions and their star player?

At the heart of this crushing defeat lies a smaller, surprising story, starring Marc Guihi, the Manchester City defender who joined from Crystal Palace last winter and has established himself as a personal nightmare, haunting the Liverpool icon wherever he goes. For every time Mohamed Salah and Marc Gohi have crossed paths this season, the Egyptian has come out on the losing side.

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  • Rising from the depths

    Marc Guehi’s rise to prominence did not take place within the ranks of the top clubs; he started out at Chelsea’s academy, was subsequently released, and returned via Swansea City to work his way up towards his dream, eventually reaching Crystal Palace and finally joining the elite ranks last January.

    The Sky Blues fought hard to sign Guehi based on the vision of manager Pep Guardiola, who gambled on transforming him from a defender in a team fighting for survival and causing upsets into a defensive stalwart in a side competing for every trophy. Amidst all this, the dramatic story between Guehi and Salah began to unfold, reaching its climax during his final season with the Reds.

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  • A recurring nightmare… Joi weaves the threads of the knot

    Ghouli’s dominance over Salah is no longer just a one-off in a single match; it has become a consistent pattern this season.

    The English-Ivorian defender has faced the Egyptian star on more than one occasion, both whilst at Crystal Palace and after his move to Manchester City, and has emerged victorious in five full encounters.

    Each time, the result has been almost identical: Salah out of the game, trapped, and stunned, his usual sparkle missing, as if Guehi knows his moves in advance every time they meet and burdens him with a weight the ‘King’ has been unable to shake off.

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    Gohi has secured three wins with Crystal Palace and two more with Manchester City, becoming the only player in Europe’s top five leagues to have beaten the same club five times this season.

    With Crystal Palace, Guehi beat Liverpool once on penalties in the Community Shield, once in the Premier League and once in the EFL Cup, whilst with Manchester City he secured victories over the Reds in the league and the FA Cup.

  • Three decisive blows... Farewell to the cups

    It didn’t stop at league matches; it extended to competitions where the smallest details make all the difference: the cup competitions.

    Against Ghoui, Liverpool were knocked out of three different competitions this season, all in matches where the English defender made a strong impact.

    The Community Shield, the League Cup, then the FA Cup... one cup after another, and a dream evaporating each time, whilst the same scene repeats itself: Salah tries, and Ghoulam shuts the door on the Reds’ star’s dreams.

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  • Defeats in four matches

    The harshest aspect of this story is that the defeats were not linked to a specific ground or exceptional circumstances. At four different grounds (Wembley, Selhurst Park, Anfield, and the Etihad), Liverpool suffered defeats in all domestic competitions whilst Gohi was present, a clear indication that the issue goes beyond the home advantage and the crowd.

    However, Goyi was not the sole cause of the problem, as Liverpool have been grappling with deeper issues this season, all of which have combined to create fatal flaws and a sad story that coincided with the end of Salah’s time at Anfield, with Goyi being the figure present for its most painful moments.

    Now, Salah and Liverpool have only the Champions League left, with the Reds preparing to face Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals. In any case, they cannot face Ghouhi at any subsequent stage of the continental competition after the Citizens were knocked out by Real Madrid... So will the miracle happen and will the Reds salvage their season in the absence of the Salah nightmare?