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Former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has claimed Mohamed Salah is a “more complete” player than Cristiano Ronaldo, having surprisingly picked the Reds icon over the former Manchester United star.
Salah has confirmed his status as a modern Liverpool legend since signing for the club back in 2017. Eight years on, and the Egyptian now sits third on the club’s all-time goalscoring charts, with only Ian Rush and Roger Hunt ahead of him.
The decision to pick him over Ronaldo though will no doubt raise eyebrows, especially among the Portuguese star’s countless fans. The 40-year-old is considered by many to be one of the two greatest players of all time, along with Lionel Messi.
Benitez though takes a different view. The former Liverpool manager, who of course led the Reds to the Champions League crown back in 2005, is currently out in South Korea, where he is set to lead a team of legends in the 2025 Icons Match.
While out in Seoul, Benitez was asked by Youtube channel Shoot For Love to pick between various iconic forwards, before landing on an overall winner.
Salah was pitted against Tottenham legend Son Heung-Min, and despite his surroundings, Benitez sided with the Liverpool hero.
Next up, the Egyptian came up against Steven Gerrard, with the legendary Reds captain having seen off Fernando Torres in the first round.
Despite managing Gerrard for such a long time, and describing him as the best player he’d ever coached, Benitez once again chose Salah. “You talk about attackers, Salah has been consistent for so many years,” he said as he explained his decision.
Then came another big challenge for Salah as he was paired with Ronaldo, but despite the latter’s standing as one of the greatest players of all time, Benitez stuck to his guns.
“Ronaldo is the greatest maybe finisher, but Salah is more complete,” Benitez said. “At the end I know where this will finish [Ronaldo vs Messi], so I will go here [with Salah].”
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Benitez was right, and his final choice saw Salah pitted against Messi, with the former’s winning run coming to an end as his Argentine counterpart was selected as the overall winner.
Liverpool.com says: Controversial to say the least from Benitez! You can bet he’ll be getting some messages after choosing Salah over Ronaldo, and that’s not the only contentious decision he made.
There’ll no doubt be Liverpool fans questioning his decision to choose Salah over Gerrard. As much as the Egyptian king is loved at Anfield, no one quite compares to the former captain.
Then again, if we’re talking purely about forwards, then maybe we can let Rafa off for picking Salah. If it was a question about who the best all-round player is, then we might have had a different answer.
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