Roberto Firmino: the truth behind the Salah-Mané relationship at Liverpool

Brazilian reveals in this extract from his new book the tension that could rear up between his former attacking colleagues

Why did I pull that face? I don’t really know. But it was funny, that’s for sure. To this day, memes still arrive on my phone or get sent to me on social media. We were in the tunnel, heading back to the dressing room after a convincing 3–0 victory against Burnley. The atmosphere was obviously tense. Despite the good result, the game had been marked by a burst of fury from Sadio Mané when he was substituted in the final minutes.

The cameras caught everything. Sadio wasn’t only angry about being subbed off: a little earlier Mohamed Salah had attempted a shot on goal when he had a clear pass on to Mané, who was free inside the box. Well, my English isn’t wonderful, so I can’t tell you exactly what Mané shouted when he came off. But it wasn’t anything nice! James Milner tried to calm him down, but Sadio remained furious, sitting fuming on the bench, gesturing repeatedly. Continue reading...

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