Ex-Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino has lifted the lid on the reported tension between his former co-stars Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.
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During their collective time at Anfield, the attacking trio struck up a wonderful partnership. They pressed and scored their way to being regarded as one of the most formidable attacking combinations in English football history, and were major protagonists in helping Jurgen Klopp's Reds win the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League and the FA Cup, among other trophies.
While one would have been forgiven for thinking that this cohesiveness and harmony would have translated off the pitch as well, according to Firmino, that was not always the case between his African co-stars.
The pair infamously got into a row during a league match in 2019 against Burnley when the Egyptian decided to go for goal instead of passing to an unmarked Mane in the box to extend his side's lead.
The Senegalese was visibly irate at his teammate's decision-making when he was substituted off. The duo later insisted that the issue was behind them, but according to Firmino, the tension had been brewing for some time before that.
"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," the 55-cap Brazil international told The Guardian.
"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 Mane had had their little problems before, but that time everything happened on the field, there for the world to see.
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"That day, at Burnley, the lid came off."
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