Anfield shock, the secret Salah never wanted to be known revealed

Roberto Firmino, a Liverpool player from 2015 to 2023, reveals the real relationship between Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané (now at Al-Nassr F.C.) at Anfield. The 32-year-old Brazilian striker, now at Al-Ahli, acknowledged in his book 'YES LORD: My Liverpool Years' the tense rivalry between the Egyptian and the Senegalese: "Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané were never the best of friends". Firmino explains that "each was very reserved. It was very rare to see them talking to each other and I don't know if it had to do with the rivalry between Egypt and Senegal in African competitions. I really don't know.

The Brazilian was keen to point out that Salah and Mané, with whom he formed a historic strike partnership at the great Liverpool, "never stopped talking to each other, never completely severed their ties. They always acted with the utmost professionalism". Firmino admits he was affected by the tensions between Salah and Mané: "Klopp knew he wouldn't protest when he changed me" Roberto Firmino clarified that he "never took sides" in the rivalry between Mohamed Salah and Mané and that he even sacrificed for them on the pitch: "That's why they love me: I always passed the ball to both of them; my preference was the team's victory".

Roberto Firmino shared that "maybe that's why I was the one Klopp substituted most often. The three of us had very different personalities and the boss knew I wouldn't throw a bottle on the floor or anything like that. If it bothered me, he would speak up. Everyone knew it worked like that. It was the worst-kept secret in Liverpool; naturally, nobody asked me what I thought or how I felt "Everyone, including the other players, knew that's how it worked. It was the worst-kept secret in Liverpool; naturally, nobody asked me what I thought or how I felt. That's my nature, the team comes first. I knew that," he said.

Salah's secret

"We were in the tunnel, returning to the dressing room after a convincing 3-0 win over Burnley. The atmosphere was obviously tense. Despite the good result, the game was marked by an outburst of fury from Sadio Mané when he was substituted in the final minutes. The cameras caught it all. Sadio wasn't just angry at being substituted: shortly before Mohamed Salah had tried to shoot at goal when he had a clear pass for 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 pretty! James Milner tried to calm him down, but Sadio was still furious, sitting on the bench fuming, gesticulating repeatedly.