Nobody would have thought that one of the biggest attractions in Saudi Arabian football would be the rivalry between footballers who shared the same dressing room in one of the biggest clubs in the old continent. This happened between Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mané, elements that after having lived incredible moments with Liverpool, now destiny put them as opponents in the King's Champions Cup duel.
The friendship between these two players off the pitch remains as good as ever, but once both stepped on the pitch, this companionship was put aside as the goal of Mané and Henderson was to try to beat the opponent they had in front of them in order to advance to the quarter-final round of this competition that has Al-Hilal as its great favourite to win the title.
Although the duel between Al-Nassr and Al-Ettifaq was very even in its 90 minutes of regular time, this duel was bound to have a winner, Mané taking one of the few opportunities during the match to score the goal that qualified Al-Nassr to the next round, the Senegalese striker leaving out a great friend and former dressing room mate on Merseyside, the former Reds striker wanting to continue forging a career that collapsed after his departure from Anfield in 2022.
This will not be the only occasion on which Mane and Henderson will meet on the pitch, with Al-Ettifaq hosting Al-Nassr on 22 December as part of the Saudi Pro League's 18th of 34 fixtures.
While Henderson has already been beaten by Sadio Mane in this cup clash, Hendo could now find himself being beaten by Fabinho Tavarez, a midfield player who not many months ago was Jordan's cup-mate at Liverpool but now plays for Al Ittihad, who are battling alongside Al Ettifaq for those top-flight positions.
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