Sadio Mane has lifted the lid on his fractious relationship with Mo Salah and revealed what really happened during the public falling out with his former Liverpool team-mate during the 3-0 win at Burnley in August 2019. Mane has also named the player who he feels he's had the best playing relationship throughout his trophy-laden career.
Showdown at Turf Moor
The Senegal international, who was unmarked in the box, was visibly furious with the Egyptian icon for not passing him the ball for a goal-scoring opportunity, Salah chose to shoot and was crowded out by defenders. Moments later, when Mane was substituted, he had an animated outburst on the bench, gesticulating angrily in Salah's direction and had to be calmed down by team-mate James Milner. The incident, though quickly resolved in a private conversation the next day, became an iconic moment highlighting the healthy but intense competitive streak between the two world-class forwards during their time at Liverpool. Mane has now spoken at length on the strained relationship between the pair and events on the day at Turf Moor.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportMane: 'You can pass to me more'
Mane said: "Everybody says the same (that there was a rivalry), but I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I’m someone who is quiet, but I’m friendly with everybody in the team. I think Mo is also a very nice guy. I think though, on the pitch, you saw – sometimes he would pass to me, sometimes he wouldn’t pass to me; sometimes he would pass to me, sometimes he wouldn’t pass to me. Only Bobby (Roberto Firmino) was there to share the ball.
"And I still remember one game (against Burnley) when I was really, really angry because he didn’t pass to me when he should have. I was really angry after the game. The next day he came up to me. He wanted to talk to me, but he didn’t know how to say it. He still thought I was angry at him because we hadn’t seen each other (the night before), we just went home.
"He said, 'Can we talk?' I said, 'OK, no problem, we go'. And he said, 'You think I didn’t want to pass to you? I didn't score. Bobby scored. But even when I got the ball, I wasn’t thinking or see you to pass. I just got the ball and I wanted to shoot. But I have nothing against you. And honestly, if I can pass to you and if I see you, I will do'.
"I said, 'No, don’t worry. It passed, it passed. I was angry because I think you can pass to me more with your quality'. I think since that day we became even closer. And sometimes it happens. For me, it wasn’t personal. He just wants to score, score, score. And then I said to him: 'Mo, I can help you a lot because I know you want to be a top scorer. I can help you because I don’t have this problem. I’ll help you more'."
Major move to Saudi Arabia
After six successful years at Liverpool, Mane joined Bayern in June 2022, but only spent a single season with the Bavarian giants. In that one year he helped the team win the German Super Cup on his debut and, despite an injury that ruled him out of the 2022 World Cup, secured the Bundesliga title. In August 2023, Mane moved to Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr, where he plays alongside global football icon Cristiano Ronaldo. With Al-Nassr, he has won the Arab Club Champions Cup and he was also crowned African Footballer of the Year for the second time in 2022, shortly after his move to Germany.
And despite the illustrious list of team-mates he’s played with, Mane has revealed the one star who he believes he had the best partnership with.
Getty Images SportMane reveals favourite playing partner
Mane said: "People usually talk about the front three – me, Bobby, Mo – but if you see (Andy) Robertson, you see the overlapping and this desire to win every single ball. It’s just amazing. I think it my best partnership in all my career because we knew each other. It was just natural. I helped him, he helped me. When I had the ball, if we played against one winger which was really tough for him, in the next day in training, we’d say: ‘Hey, help me, I help you’. It’s what he said. I said: 'Don’t worry, me, I will be here. I will be here for you. Don’t worry. We’ll catch him, we'll put him in the pocket'. It was teamwork."