Rivalité à Liverpool : Sadio Mané dévoile enfin la vérité sur sa relation avec Mohamed Salah
Invited on the podcast of former England international Rio Ferdinand Presents, Sadio Mané discussed in detail his sometimes difficult relationship with Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah, his former teammate at Liverpool. Long perceived as rivals in the Reds' attack, the two African stars fueled numerous rumors, particularly due to some visible tensions on the pitch.
Now playing for Al-Nassr in the Saudi league, the two-time African Footballer of the Year (2019 and 2022) wanted to clarify things.
“Everyone said there was a rivalry, but for me it wasn’t a bad thing,” he explains. “I’m a discreet person and I get along well with everyone. ’Mo’ is also a very nice guy. But on the pitch, you saw it: sometimes he passed to me, sometimes he didn’t. Only ’Bobby’, Roberto Firmino, shared the ball all the time,” he smiles.
To illustrate this sometimes fierce competition, the Senegalese international recalled a now-famous incident: a match against Burnley in August 2019, which Liverpool won 3-0. After a play where Salah opted to shoot rather than pass to Mané, the latter displayed unusual anger as he left the pitch, a sequence that went viral.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” says the Lions’ number 10. “I was really angry after the match because he didn’t pass me the ball when he should have. The next day, he came to see me. He wanted to talk, but didn’t know how. He thought I was still angry. He said to me, ‘Can we talk?’ I replied, ‘Yes, no problem.’”
The discussion between the two men then cleared up the misunderstandings.
“He told me, ‘You think I didn’t want to pass to you? I didn’t even score. Bobby scored. When I got the ball, I just thought about shooting. It wasn’t anything against you.’ I told him it didn’t matter, but that with his talent, he could make better passes to me,” Mané continued in the podcast.
According to him, this frank exchange marked a turning point in their relationship.
“Since that day, we’ve become even closer. These things happen in football. It wasn’t personal: Mo wants to score, score again and again. I even told him, ‘If you want to be the top scorer, I can help you. I don’t mind.’”
Far from the clichés of a toxic rivalry, Sadio Mané describes a relationship built on respect, healthy competition, and above all, honesty—three ingredients that helped make Liverpool's attack one of the most formidable in Europe. Subsequently, the Senegalese striker left Liverpool to join Bayern Munich before signing in Saudi Arabia.
Commentaires (22)
Merci Diomokéniata!!!
mame dé lolou rek moma si nakhari
si li ga wakhe bilakhi (Et SONKO doit être prudent, parce que ceux qui semblaient être nos frères de lutter hier vont chercher à le détruire.)
té migi khégne mai dara
SONKO MOYE SENEGAL SENEGAL MOYE SONKO INCHALLAH 2029
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