LIVERPOOL - Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah says helping the team win the Champions League is more important than any individual award he could receive this season.
The Egyptian reached the 40-goal mark across all competitions this season in Liverpool's 3-0 Premier League win over Bournemouth on Saturday and is leading the race for the European Golden Shoe after an impressive campaign.
Liverpool beat Manchester City 5-1 on aggregate this month to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League, where they will face AS Roma, and Salah hopes the run can continue.
"To win the Champions League," Salah said when asked if he preferred to win the competition or an individual award. "If you had a choice, then of course the Champions League.
" ...To win the Champions League is huge for everyone. I don't care about the rest."
The 25-year-old has scored 30 goals in 32 league appearances for Liverpool in his debut season at the club and is a favourite to win the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year award.
Salah is the first African player to score 30 or more goals in the Premier League, with his two goals against Stoke taking him beyond the 29-goal mark set by Ivory Coast great Didier Drogba when helping Chelsea win the 2009-2010 title.
The winger also became just the third Liverpool player to score 40 goals in all competitions in a season. Salah headed home a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross in the 69th minute against the Potters, making him the first player to achieve the 40 goal mark for the Reds since Ian Rush in the 1986-87 season.
Never forgotten. pic.twitter.com/MUjwwMZmCu
— Mohamed Salah (@22mosalah) April 15, 2018
Salah's goal, his 30th in the league this term, kept Liverpool on course for a top-four finish and means the Player of the Year contender has now netted eight goals in his past five games. He is closing in on Liverpool's all-time single-season record of 47, set by Rush in 1983-84.
Liverpool play West Bromwich Albion in the league on April 21 before the first leg of their Champions League tie, three days later.