Harry Kane and Mo Salah: Love in the Nineties

THERE is a curious trend affecting men’s tennis where, even as we near the year 2020, no man born in the 1990s has won a Grand Slam singles tournament. The holy trio of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have won 52 major titles between them, with Marin Čilić, born in September 1988, the latest-born man to have won one (the 2014 US Open).

The 1980s has not had quite so strong a stranglehold on football but in Cristiano Ronaldo (born 1985) and Lionel Messi (1987) it has still offered up two of the greatest players of all-time, both of whom are still performing at an elite level as their 30s progress. There’s no 1980s revival scene in elite sport, because the 1980s has never gone away.

Kylian Mbappe is the only player younger than the Sega Dreamcast to score a World Cup goal

— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) July 6, 2018

So what of the 1990s? If Neymar’s promise is being whittled away in Paris, if Antoine Griezmann is too busy reversing decisions and Kylian Mbappe (born 1998) is still in the very early stages of his (clearly stellar) career, then the 2019 Champions League final should, in Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah, showcase two men of the 90s who should, theoretically, be heading into the prime of their careers and could dominate the Champions League for the next few seasons.

In fact, Liverpool can boast three of the nine top scoring Champions League players born in the 1990s, while Kane has scored or assisted 17 goals in only 18 appearances in Europe’s biggest competition. Tottenham versus Liverpool may not have been final many predicted back in September but with Ronaldo and Messi having to manage the decline of the teams they play in, if not their own abilities, it’s not a complete surprise to see Salah, Firmino and Mane reach a second consecutive final, joined by the World Cup Golden Boot winner.

Nevertheless, if Kane and Salah want to loom over European club football in a manner even half as dominant as Ronaldo and Messi have, they will need to be available week in, week out for years on end. The enduring image of the 2018 Champions League final was Salah being substituted after injuring his shoulder in the first half, while Kane’s involvement in Saturday night’s game has been a furious battle to recover from the latest in a lengthening series of ankle injuries. Salah was one of a record 29 players to appear in all 38 games in 2018-19 and you feel the three-week break will have done him good, as it has Roberto Firmino.

The men of the 1980s have not suffered often with injuries. Lionel Messi has played in 50 or more club games in eight of the last 10 seasons (his lowest number in that period is 46 in 2013-14) and has averaged 52 games a season since he was 22. It’s a similar story with Cristiano Ronaldo, who played at least 44 games in all but his first season at Real Madrid and recorded 43 in his first season with Juventus. People may look first at goals and assists when assessing whether a player is world class but minutes played is just as important. “The best player you never saw?” The best players always get seen.

Unsurprisingly, Premier League teams dominate the attacking output in this season’s Champions League but while Tottenham have been about par with their chances, based on Opta’s Expected Goals model, Liverpool have underperformed, their total of 22 goals significantly lower than their xG of 27.4. That passes the eye test, as the Reds’ front three have not hit the heights they did in Europe last season, when all three reached double figures, a Champions League record. But that can be taken as a positive for Jurgen Klopp’s team, because if Salah, Mane and Firmino are rested and ready on Saturday, there is no indication that they won’t get good opportunities in the game.

Tottenham, in contrast, know that despite Son Heung-min’s excellent season, and despite Lucas Moura’s astonishing hat-trick in the semi-final at Ajax, Harry Kane remains their best chance of a goal in the showpiece final they have been waiting their entire history for. The 2019 Champions League final will be the first since 2013 not to feature either Ronaldo or Messi; at long last it’s time for the players of the 1990s to step up and dominate the headlines, but who will be the man to do it?

A £10 bet on Tottenham to win the Champions League returns £26.00