Football fans around the world clearly remember the image of Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah leaving the field in tears at the 2018 Champions League final. Almost a year later, on June 1, the memory was replaced with a more cheerful image (for Liverpool fans, at least): That of Salah celebrating his team's 2019 Champions League victory.
If that's not the ultimate comeback story, we don't know what is.
Liverpool scored Europe's top prize after beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the final match that was held in Madrid on Saturday. Salah set his team on track to victory early on in the match, scoring a penalty shot in the second minute, which marked the second-quickest goal in the history of Champions League finals. The irony lies in the first-ever quickest goal since it was scored against Liverpool in 2005 by Paolo Maldini playing for AC Milan (52 seconds.)
Photos of the fan-favorite Egyptian star celebrating the win flooded social media soon after, with many users highlighting the stark contrast between the 2018 and 2019 Champions League finals.
Back in 2018, Salah was forced out of the final match versus Real Madrid in the 31st minute after suffering ligament damage in his shoulder due to a controversial challenge by Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos. Liverpool lost the match 3-1 that night.
Before heading to the field on Saturday, Salah looked at a photograph capturing his despair following last year's incident, in hopes of motivating himself to give his all - and that definitely did the trick.
"I looked at the picture from last year before the game [...] It was something to motivate me to win. I didn't look at the picture for a long time. You can feel what you can beat, so I just looked at it one time and said, 'OK, let's go,'" The Guardian quotes him as saying.
"Our job is more mental and you have to believe in yourself before the game. [...] I think everything happens for a reason and the reason for us to lose the final last season was to come back and win it again," the striker added.