Mohamed Salah v Neymar: head-to-head
Monday, September 17, 2018
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Two modern greats come face to face for the first time with their current clubs; UEFA.com puts them back to back.
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Mohamed Salah and Neymar will be under the spotlight when they come face to face in Liverpool's UEFA Champions League opener against Paris. How do they measure up?
• Salah and Neymar have met once before, though neither player scored in the 1-1 group stage draw between Roma and Barcelona on 16 September 2015. Salah was absent for the return fixture, a 6-1 win for the hosts at the Camp Nou.
• Salah has scored in two of his five Premier League games this season, and in five of his eight matches for club and country since the UEFA Champions League final: six goals in total.
• In the same period, Neymar has played 14 games, and scored ten times (never more than a goal a game) including goals in each of his last six outings: four in Ligue 1 for Paris, followed by two (both penalties) in international friendlies for Brazil.
• The two players are the same age (26, though Neymar is older by 131 days) and the same height: 175cm.
• Neymar has scored twice in eight games against English clubs (two goals in 626 minutes of football), and was on the winning side in the first seven of those games – his streak ending in Barcelona's 3-1 loss at Manchester City in the 2016/17 group stage.
• Salah's only past encounters with French clubs came with Roma in the 2016/17 UEFA Europa League round of 16 when his side lost 5-4 on aggregate against Lyon; he scored once in 180 minutes of football in that tie.
• This will not be Neymar's first trip to Anfield this year; he scored as Brazil beat Croatia 2-0 in a pre-World Cup friendly in Liverpool on 3 June.
When Salah and Neymar have scored their 2018 goals for club and country
| Time | Mohamed Salah (pens) | Neymar (pens) |
| 1-10 | 2 | 1 (1) |
| 11-20 | 2 | 1 |
| 21-30 | 4 | 1 |
| 31-40 | 2 | 2 (1) |
| 41-half-time | 3 | 3 (1) |
| FIRST HALF | 13 | 8 |
| 46-55 | 1 | 3 (2) |
| 56-65 | 2 | 2 |
| 66-75 | 4 | 3 |
| 76-85 | 5 (2) | 3 (1) |
| 86-full-time | 1 | 1 |
| SECOND HALF | 13 | 12 |
| TOTAL | 26 | 20 |
2017/18 UEFA Champions League tally
| Name | Minutes played | Goals scored (pens) | Minutes per goal |
| Mohamed Salah | 930 | 10 | 93mins |
| Neymar | 720 | 6 | 120mins |
2018/19 domestic tally
| Name | League games | League goals (pens) | Cup games* | Cup goals* | Total appearances | Total goals |
| Mohamed Salah | 5 | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Neymar | 4 | 4 (1) | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
*includes domestic super cup and league cup competitions
All-time UEFA Champions League record (group stage to final)
| Name | Appearances | Goals scored | Goals per game | Best #UCL tally |
| Mohamed Salah | 28 | 13 | 0.46 | 10 (2017/18) |
| Neymar | 47 | 27 | 0.57 | 10 (2014/15) |
All-time UEFA club competition record*
| Name | Appearances | Goals scored | Goals per game |
| Mohamed Salah | 66 | 22 | 0.33 |
| Neymar | 47 | 27 | 0.57 |
*UEFA club competition: UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Intertoto Cup, European/South American Cup