Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says Mohamed Salah will have to repeat this season's heroics "for the next 15 years" to match the achievements of Cristiano Ronaldo.
The displays of Salah and Ronaldo in the Champions League final this weekend may not only determine who wins the competition but also this year's Ballon d'Or, a personal accolade dominated by the Real Madrid superstar and Lionel Messi.
"Mo played a fantastic season but Cristiano has played 15 seasons like this," said Klopp. "He has scored something like 47,000 goals - crazy numbers.
"Why should we compare? At the time of Pele, nobody compared Pele to other players and asked, 'Is he as good as him?' Messi and Ronaldo are in the final moment very often in the right position to score a goal and that's the most difficult thing to do in the world.
"That's why they are where they are. The Ballon d'Or is always between them. It's deserved."
Whatever the outcome, Klopp will not be compromising his team's attacking ideals.
"If I was to ask the boys now, 'What do you want to do in this game?', they would say, 'What we always did'," he said.
Meanwhile, Roman Abramovich's future as Chelsea owner and benefactor remained unclear amid reports he missed the FA Cup final win over Manchester United because he is awaiting the renewal of his UK visa.
He has missed big matches before, but the 51-year-old Russian's absence added to the uncertainty around the club, particularly given the political tensions between Russia and the UK after the poisoning of former military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury this year.
A spokesman declined to say why Abramovich was not at the cup final. Although London is one of his residences, Abramovich spends a lot of time in Moscow.
He bought the Stamford Bridge club in June 2003. His backing has transformed Chelsea, who have won 15 trophies in the past 15 years.