There are over 7,000 kilometers between the hometowns of Sadio Mané (Sedhiou, 1991) and Mohamed Salah (Nagrig, 1992), but whenever they play together, it seems as though they are twins. They understand each other perfectly. A single glance is enough for each of them to know what the other will do. A clear example of this occurred on Wednesday at Anfield: in the 54th minute, the Senegalese passed behind the Egyptian, who anticipated the move and assisted him for the 2-0 goal against Villarreal in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals. A connection between Africans that puts Liverpool ahead for the return leg.
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They were born in different countries, but Jürgen Klopp was the one who brought them together in the same city. In 2016, he signed Sadio from Southampton, and a year later, he rescued Mo from Fiorentina. Unlike Mane, who was constantly rising, Salah was looking to revive his career. Since then, they have become a lethal duo, although, like any friendship, their story always had a complicated episode.
Everything happened at the beginning of the 2019-20 season, months after both of them lifted the coveted 'Orejona' with the Reds. In a match against Burnley, which ended in a 3-0 victory, Mane became upset with his teammate. The reason? Salah did not pass him the ball in an attack where he had positioned himself and was unopposed to score his double. Instead of that, Salah chose to shoot at goal, seeking his own goal.
"Mo asked me why I was angry and I told him that he should have passed me the ball. He told me, 'I didn't see you, you know I don't have anything against you'," he recounted in an interview, trying to minimize the situation. However, the anger was evident on the field, even more so when Klopp decided to substitute him in the 85th minute for Divock Origi.
The German coach did not let the episode between his two stars go unnoticed and called the Senegalese to his office. "We resolved it between ourselves, but even so, the boss called me to his office and we talked. I told him it was resolved and he was pleasantly surprised," he said. However, Sadio couldn't hide that he was surprised by his teammate's reaction when they talked to settle what happened. "I know there is no problem, but his reaction was strange. Sometimes we talk and exchange messages," he said in the interview.
Despite the slight setback they had, Mo and Sadio have shown that they have forged such a strong bond that it did not break even when they were rivals in the Africa Cup of Nations final and the World Cup playoff matches, both won by Senegal. "I have a very sad part inside me for Mohamed Salah. I wish we both could have won the championship. I didn't like the idea of celebrating in front of one of my best friends," Mane said after winning the Africa Cup of Nations.
The friendship they cultivated off the field is reflected on the pitch: together, they have scored 57 goals (34 for Mo and 23 for Sadio) and provided 15 assists (10-5) in the Champions League. In fact, they are the all-time leading goal scorers for Liverpool in European competition. As for Mane, he reached 31 goals in European competitions, the same number as Gento, Klose, and Kaká, among others.