Sadio Mane says that he is still friends with Liverpool teammate Virgil Van Dijk, despite the two being set to meet in this year’s World Cup.
Mane was on the scoresheet for Liverpool as they beat Benfica 3-1 in the Champions League last night. Following the game he took to Instagram to share a picture of Van Dijk congratulating him for the goal.
“Big man, we still friends until…” wrote Mane.
Van Dijk shared earlier in the week that he phoned Mane to congratulate him on his qualification with Senegal. The Dutchman wished Mane good luck and joked that he would ‘need it’ should the two meet in the competition.
Mane has taken the teasing up another notch with his latest post. The pair are obviously close having spent time at Southampton together before joining Liverpool. Nice to see.
Overtaking the greats
Mane didn’t have his greatest game in a Liverpool shirt against Benfica. His control was sometimes lacking and he failed to have any real impact on the game.
But he did the most important thing whilst playing as a centre-forward – sticking the ball in the net.
In doing so he took his tally of Champions League goals for Liverpool to 22. That’s significant as it allowed him to overtake Steven Gerrard in the clubs all-time list in the competition.
Gerrard wasn’t the only footballing legend that Mane overtook with his goal in Lisbon, either.
The 29-year-old now has 13 knockout stage goals for Liverpool since joining the club. In that time, Lionel Messi has scored 12 in the final stages of the Champions League.
Okay, Mane is a full 36 behind Messi in the history of the tournament. But it’s still a significant milestone for a player who often doesn’t get the praise he deserves.
Mane will get the chance to add to that as Benfica return to Anfield next week. With his history of big goals on European nights, you wouldn’t bet against him doing so.
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