ROBERTO FIRMINO has revealed he was the “firefighter” during Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool feud.
The Brazilian has lifted the lid on the pair’s “explosive” clashes during their time as team-mates at Anfield.
Alongside Firmino, they formed a formidable attacking trio following Salah’s arrival in 2017.
During the next five years, Liverpool won the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup, with Firmino, Mane and Salah scoring a combined 427 goals.
However, this came despite an occasionally tense relationship between the African duo, which fan caught a glimpse of during a win over Burnley in 2019.
Mane was seen fuming with Salah for not passing to him, letting his frustration out after being subbed off by Jurgen Klopp.
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Although both players spoke out against claims of a feud after the match, Firmino has now reflected on their relationship himself.
“I saw first-hand the looks, the grimaces, the body language, the dissatisfaction when one was mad at the other,” he told The Guardian.
“I could feel it. I was the link between them in our attacking play and the firefighter in those moments.
“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.
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“Salah and Mane had had their little problems before, but that time everything happened on the field, there for the world to see. That day, at Burnley, the lid came off.”
Discussing Mane as an individual, Firmino added: “Mane was more intense in both good and bad moments. He was the most explosive of the three of us.
“I was always talking to him, giving advice, trying to calm him down. I would tell him to find peace, play for the team, and stay relaxed.”
Mane would be the first of the three to leave Anfield as he departed for Bayern Munich eighteen months ago after six years on Merseyside.
But his spell in Germany was short-lived, after an alleged altercation with team-mate Leroy Sane.
Meanwhile, Firmino ended his eight-year stay with Liverpool this summer as he sealed a move to Saudi side Al-Ahli.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
