It was my responsibility to diffuse the tension that had been building: Roberto Firmino reveals the details of the “explosive” Sadio Mane-Mohamed Salah rivalry, saying that the latter “frustrated everyone” and that Salah “played firefighter.”
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane were once teammates at Liverpool, but Roberto Firmino has disclosed that there were unresolved issues between them.
As they flourished on the field for Liverpool, Firmino, Salah, and Mane gained a reputation as one of the most prolific offensive trios the Premier League has ever seen.
The three worked together to help Jurgen Klopp’s team win numerous titles, including the FA Cup, League Cup, Premier League, and Champions League.
One would assume that their interactions off the football field would be fairly comparable given their extensive understanding on the field.
That was far from the reality, though, as Firmino disclosed, as the Brazilian acknowledged that Mane and Salah had long-standing animosity that eventually flared up.
Fans will remember the infamous bust-up between the two Liverpool forwards back in 2019 following their 3-0 victory over Burnley.
Mane was incensed with his team-mate back in August when Salah failed to square the ball to him when he was unmarked, instead trying to add a fourth goal to Liverpool’s tally on his own.
Mane was visibly frustrated when head coach Klopp removed him from play and painted an irate figure on the touch-line.
While both players later came out and insisted that their was no longer ongoing, Firmino reflected on the incident and revealed how the tensions were very much long-standing.
Speaking to The Guardian, Firmino said: ‘I saw first-hand the looks, the grimaces, the body language, the dissatisfaction when one was mad at the other. I could feel it. I was the link between them in our attacking play and the firefighter in those moments.
‘For many, that disagreement between Sadio and Mo was the first; for some, the first and last. But I knew it had been brewing since the previous season, 2018–19. My instinct and my duty was to defuse the situation between them.
‘Salah and Mané had had their little problems before, but that time everything happened on the field, there for the world to see. That day, at Burnley, the lid came off’.
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