They are the two protagonists in Saturday’s showpiece, the two men most likely to decide the action for their teams, the two stars set to take centre stage.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah are poised to play huge roles in the biggest European club football match of the season at the Champions League final in Kiev.
For Ronaldo, it’s the fifth time he’s been here and the third in the last three years. But it’s a Champions League final debut for Salah and all of his Liverpool team-mates.
Cristiano Ronaldo strikes a pose with team-mates Casemiro (left) and Marcelo (right)
Mohamed Salah cuts a considerably more at-ease figure than his Real Madrid counterpart
Ronaldo dismissed a reporter’s question asking whether there were any similarities between himself and Salah in the build-up to the match.
‘He is completely different,’ Ronaldo said. ‘He plays with the left, I play with the right. I’m tall he’s a little bit shorter, I play with the head. We are completely different.
‘People want to compare me with other players but I’m different from everyone. Salah is different but I have to say he has had a fantastic Champions League a fantastic league season, but Saturday, let’s see.’
In fairness, he is correct. Salah’s low centre of gravity, his stop-start dribbling technique and his stature bear a much greater resemblance to Ronaldo’s Ballon d’Or rival Lionel Messi.
While Ronaldo uses his 126million Instagram followers to market his CR7-branded underwear
While Salah posts casual pictures of himself relaxing with Liverpool team-mate Dejan Lovren
Ronaldo’s game, particularly now in the twilight of his career, boils down to utilising his athleticism and knowing when to exert his energy to make his mark on matches at the most decisive moments.
He always rises to the big occasion, he relishes the high-pressure moments – see his penalty to win the quarter-final tie against Juventus – and that’s reflected in every aspect of his life both on-and-off the football pitch.
Yet just as he is once he crosses the white line, Ronaldo is a juggernaut on social media. The 33-year-old is by far and away the most popular athlete in the world on Instagram with 126million followers, Neymar is a distant second with 94million.
From his self-indulgent celebration to his constant muscle-flexing, from his perfectly-coiffed hair to his tanned skin, Ronaldo is the archetypal metrosexual, modern footballer. And social media is part of that package.
Salah is known as one of the jokers of Liverpool’s squad and doesn’t take himself too seriously
Ronaldo never misses an opportunity to market his many sponsors – after Euro 2016 it was Nike
His opponent on Saturday is in stark contrast. Salah boasts just 13.7million Instagram followers, less than nine times Ronaldo’s total. On Twitter, Ronaldo has 73million compared with Salah’s 5.7million.
While Ronaldo is all histrionics and drama on the field, Salah cuts a much more relaxed figure while playing and can often be caught smiling in the heat of battle. His facial hair and relaxed demeanour give off a considerably more carefree vibe.
When he won the latest of his five Ballon d’Ors, Ronaldo chose to accept the gong by standing on a platform atop the Eiffel Tower as a camera zoomed slowly towards him holding the trophy. The low-key Salah got a lift with Dejan Lovren to collect his FWA Footballer of the Year Award.
Before Saturday’s showdown, Ronaldo will fuel his meticulously-honed physique with four to five small meals to increase metabolism and give him an edge on the field. Meals of braised cod, whole grain rice and egg whites.
Ronaldo with his partner Georgina Rodriguez and children – in photos posted on Instagram
The 25-year-old was fasting up until two days before the Kiev final in observance of Ramadan
As a practising Muslim observing Ramadan, Salah was fasting up until Friday, not consuming even a drink of water before sunset until two days ahead of the final.
Both footballers have different approaches to how much they share of their personal lives too. Ronaldo provides regular updates to his social media, with photos of himself, girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez and his children.
There is little sign of Salah’s family on his Instagram, though his daughter Magi did make an appearance on the Anfield pitch after Liverpool’s win over Brighton – the final Premier League match of the season.
The Liverpool star, who only announced himself as one of Europe’s top players this season with a remarkable breakout campaign at Anfield, has few major endorsement deals – Uber Egypt and Vodafone Egypt are the only notable examples.
The Liverpool star enjoys a light-hearted moment during the Champions League semi-finals
Ronaldo is known for his intensity on the pitch and is constantly gesticulating to team-mates
The 25-year-old lived a simple life back in Egypt and continues to do so whenever he returns home – meeting old friends from his childhood and eating at the same restaurants he did before moving to Cairo.
Salah regularly gives back to the community that raised him – Nagrig, 80 miles north of the Egyptian capital. He paid for an all-weather football pitch to be built near the school where he studied, over the scorched and dry field where he learned the game. His money even helps local couples to get married.
Ronaldo uses his considerable wealth, as the highest-paid sports star in the world, to fund a long and varied list of charitable ventures. He auctioned off his 2013 Ballon d’Or trophy to raise £600,000 for the Make-A-Wish foundation and gave £5million to help the aid effort in Nepal following the devastating 2015 earthquake.
But while Salah’s visits back home are quiet and understated, Ronaldo chose to open a museum dedicated entirely to himself in Funchal, Portugal where he grew up. There is also a statue of his face at the Madeira airport named after him, though it doesn’t bear the greatest of resemblances to the Madrid man.
Salah (right) keeps things low key when he returns home to Egypt where he sees old friends
Ronaldo poses with a waxwork model of himself at the museum in his honour in Funchal
Ronaldo has seemingly used every element of his being to generate revenue. His stable of endorsements are far too long to list fully, but they include Nike, Tag Heuer, Herbalife and even his own underwear brand.
An estimation of either athletes’ net worth shows the chasm between the pair. Incredibly Salah is worth just £1.6million, despite signing for Liverpool for £39m from Roma last summer. In stark contrast, Ronaldo’s worth totals an incredible £285m.
But on Saturday, Instagram follows, underwear sponsorship deals and net worth won’t count for much once the first whistle is blown at the Olympic Stadium. Both men will be looking to score their 45th goal in all competitions this season.
Salah may amount to just a fraction of the Portuguese by some measures but on Saturday evening he put another dent in Ronaldo’s reputation by inflicting a second Champions League defeat on him. Over to you, Mo.