What Sadio Mane really thinks of Mo Salah as rivalry is renewed at AFCON | OneFootball

Sadio Mane is set to face Mohamed Salah this evening as Senegal take on Egypt in the semi-finals of the African Cup of Nations.

The pair played alongside each other for five years at Liverpool and played 223 games together. During that time, they combined for 35 goals.

Despite sharing the dressing room with one another for so long, it’s been well documented that the pair haven’t always seen eye-to-eye.

Back in November, Mane snubbed Salah when picking his best teammates five-a-side team, with Cristiano Ronaldo making the cut ahead of him.

Indeed, there have been several occasions when both players looked visibly annoyed at the other for not passing the ball and their rivalry on the international stage cannot be overlooked either.

During the five head-to-head meetings on the international stage, Mane has won four of them, whilst Salah has only one won.

The biggest triumph undoubtedly came in the 2021 AFCON final as Senegal beat Egypt on penalties to lift the trophy. Salah is yet to win silverware with Egypt.

However, most of the tension between the duo came whilst playing at Liverpool alongside one another.

Against Burnley in August 2019, Mane was visibly frustrated with Salah when the Egyptian tried to score himself instead of passing the ball.

After being substituted, Mane had to be physically restrained as he was so frustrated with what Salah had done.

“Yes, there was tension with Sadio,” Salah said during an interview with L’Equipe.

“But we were professional until the end. I don’t think it affected the team.

“It’s human to want more, I understand that, he’s a competitor. Off the pitch, we weren’t very close, but we always respected each other.”

During an interview with Rio Ferdinand, Mane echoed those thoughts as he lifted the lid on his relationship with Salah.

“Great player. Good player. Great player. Everybody say the same (that there was a rivalry), you know, usually,” Mane said. “But it’s not, 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’m like this.

“So, I think Mo is also a very nice guy. He’s a nice guy. I think though, inside the pitch, you can see – sometimes he passes to me, sometimes he doesn’t pass to me.

“And I still remember one game when I was really, really angry because he didn’t pass to me and he should have passed to me – Burnley.

“And the next day he came to me. He wants to talk to me, but he doesn’t know when or how to say.

“He still thinks I’m angry with him because we didn’t see each other, we go home. And the next day he came to me. He said, ‘Can we talk?’

“I said, ‘OK, no problem, we go.’

“And he said, ‘You think I didn’t want to pass you? If I could pass you and I saw you, I will do.’

“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 become even closer. And sometimes it happen, but we just… as a striker, because Mo, usually when you see the ball, you don’t see nobody. You don’t see nobody. So for me, he didn’t do it personally. He just wants to score.”

During their time at Anfield, their fellow teammates could pick up on the vibe that neither of them were particularly close.

Indeed, Roberto Firmino wrote about his experience with them in his autobiography, which was released in 2023.

“They were never best friends. The three of us had very different personalities, Mane the most explosive, my role as peacemaker, unifier,” he wrote.

“It was rare to see the two of them talking, but they never severed ties, always acted with the utmost professionalism.”