Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah will be out to equal or break a Champions League goalscoring record set by Didier Drogba in Tuesday's last-16 first leg against Real Madrid.
The 30-year-old has racked up 43 goals at the top level of European football, having represented Basel, Chelsea, Roma and Liverpool in the Champions League.
Despite failing to hit his usual goalscoring highs in the Premier League this season, Salah ended the Champions League group stage with seven goals from six games - the joint-most alongside Kylian Mbappe.
After drawing a blank in his side's opening defeat to Napoli, Salah made the net ripple in each of Liverpool's next five games, including a hat-trick in a 7-1 demolition of Rangers at Ibrox.
Salah is now edging closer to becoming the all-time African top scorer in the Champions League - a record currently held by Drogba, who netted 44 times in the tournament.
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Should Salah make the net ripple at Anfield, he would therefore go level with the ex-Chelsea forward as the highest-scoring African in Champions League history.
Meanwhile, two goals or more would see Salah become the outright record-holder for his continent, and 40 of his 43 Champions League goals so far have come for Liverpool.
However, Salah has just one goal to show from his six meetings with Real Madrid in the Champions League so far, netting in their 3-1 defeat in the first leg of their 2020-21 quarter-final.
The Reds have failed to win any of their last six fixtures with Real Madrid - losing five of them, including the 2017-18 and 2021-22 finals, the former of which saw Salah come off injured after a challenge from Sergio Ramos.
Last year's showpiece game - which was marred by supporters being tear-gassed outside the stadium - saw Los Blancos win 1-0 thanks to a Vinicius Junior strike, and Liverpool's only positive result against Real Madrid since 2014 was a goalless draw in the second leg of their 2020-21 quarter-final.
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Liverpool's six-game winless run against Real Madrid is their longest-ever against a single opponent in the Champions League, although they did win their first three meetings with Los Blancos between 1981 and 2009.
Jurgen Klopp addressed the media in his pre-match press conference on Monday, during which he admitted that watching the 2021-22 final back was "torture", saying: "Real Madrid are one of the biggest clubs in the world.
"We played the final in Paris and I watched it back this weekend. I realised why I hadn't before that. It was torture; we played a good game, we could have won it but they scored the decisive goal.
"You could see their experience, how little they lose confidence, they are there for their chance. That is what you can learn from them. We are different teams in different times. Let's see who goes through."
Klopp also confirmed that Darwin Nunez could shake off a shoulder problem in time for Tuesday's showdown, which precedes Liverpool's trip to the Bernabeu for the return leg on March 15.
Ben Knapton
