Ex-Liverpool star Sadio Mane has revealed his thoughts on Mohamed Salah and broken his silence on his infamous bench bust-up.
Mane and Salah were two of the best attacking players in the Premier League when playing for the Reds together.
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Salah and Mane formed two of a deadly trio alongside Roberto FirminoCredit: Getty
They formed a superb trio with Roberto Firmino under Jurgen Klopp and they combined for an incredible amount of goals.
Sadio Mane reveals true feelings on Mo Salah and breaks silence on infamous Burnley bench row
In fact, Mane and Salah were one of the most dangerous pairings that English football has ever seen, combining for 22 goals.
But not everything was sunshine and rainbows for the African superstars, as they did clash when at the top of their games.
The Senegalese forward infamously threw his toys out of the pram after not being passed to by Salah against Burnley in 2019.
His partnership with the Egyptian came to an end three years after that – and Mane has now revealed his true feelings on Salah.
Speaking to Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand, Mane said: “[Salah is a] great player. Good player. Great player.”
But Ferdinand went on to ask whether the two Reds heroes had a rivalry against each other, as he did with Nemanja Vidic.
And Mane honestly added: “Everybody says the same, you know, usually. But it’s not… I don’t think it’s a bad thing.
“Me, I’m someone who is quiet, but I’m friendly with everybody in the team. I’m like this. So I think Mo is also a very nice guy.
“I think though, inside the pitch, you can see sometimes he passes to me, sometimes he doesn’t pass to me. But, you know, only Bobby was there to share the ball. Sometimes [it was] like this…”
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Mane and Salah were friends but the former has admitted that sometimes he wasn’t passed to by his ‘rival’Credit: GettyMane’s Burnley bench row
Mane’s mention of Salah sometimes opting to hold onto the ball rather than pass to him brought back memories.
The 33-year-old famously launched an angry rant after being substituted during Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Burnley six years ago.
He was left incensed by the fact that Salah didn’t play him in for a chance and instead took a shot at goal himself.
And manager Klopp opted to take Mane off a few minutes later, with his anger then spilling over on the bench.
Mane made multiple angry gestures and vented his fury in the dugout and had to be calmed down by teammate James Milner.
Bringing up the incident, he explained to Ferdinand: “I still remember one game when I was really, really angry because he didn’t pass me, he should pass to me.
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Mane raged on the bench after a clash with Salah during Liverpool’s game against Burnley in 2019Credit: Sky Sports
“I was really, really angry after the game. And the next day, he came to me. He wants to talk to me, but he doesn’t know when, how to say. He still thinks I’m angry against him because we didn’t see each other, we went home.
“The next day, he came to me. He said: ‘Can we talk?’ and I said: ‘Okay, no problem, we go.’ And he said: ‘You think I didn’t want to pass you? I didn’t score, Bobby scored. But even when I got the ball, I was not thinking or even seeing you to pass. I just got the ball, I want to shoot. But I have nothing against you and honestly, if I could pass you and I saw you, I will do.”
Mane continued: “And this, you know… I said, ‘No, don’t worry. It passed, it passed’. I was angry because I think you could pass me more with your quality.’
“I think since this day we have become even closer. And sometimes it happens, but we just… as a striker, usually when you see the ball, you don’t see nobody. So for me, he didn’t do it personally.
“He just wants to score, score, score. And then I was talking: ‘Mo, I can see you want to be more… I can help you a lot because I know you want to be top scorer.
“You want… I’m here. I can help you because I don’t have this problem. Me, I’ll help you more.”
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Mane has honestly opened up about his bust-up with Salah six years agoCredit: Getty’Best partnership in my career’
Despite Mane forming an iconic trio with Salah and Firmino, it was with another star that he had the best on-pitch relationship.
He revealed to Ferdinand: “People usually talk about 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.
“Me and Robbo, I think it was… my best partnership in all my career because we know each other.
“I think it’s just natural. Since he came, I think it just became natural. I helped him, he helped me.
“When I have the ball, if we play against one winger which is 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.’
“So anytime… it was teamwork.”