Who is the best African player in your heart? Veteran fans may name Uncle Mira, Okocha, Wea and others, while Chelsea fans blurt out their favourite Drogba. In the past 5 years, salah's rivalry with Mane has actually continued, with the former seemingly more personal honors and the latter conquering many people with a diligent attitude. In the Champions League semi-finals of the past night, it was the Senegalese who helped Liverpool set the record, with Mane poking a shot in the 55th minute. It was his 20th goal in all competitions this season and the fifth time in his career that he had scored more than 20 goals in a single season.
People familiar with Mane have long cherished the story of his talent, and the Senegalese, who came from a poor background, unlike many African players who became rich overnight, even after landing in the mainstream European leagues, still maintained a low-regulation and frugal lifestyle, and was diligent in the game. Especially after joining a big team like Liverpool and Forming a frontcourt trident with Firmino and Salah, he has improved his personal performance by several notches. His excellent running ability and good finishing ability have made many Liverpool fans happy, and they have succeeded in "Taobao" from Southampton.
This season, the 30-year-old Mane is still at the peak of his career, especially after entering 2022, he has improved from before, the last 7 games, he has scored 6 goals, in addition to 1 assist. In Liverpool FC's Champions League goals table, Mane is second only to Salah with 23 goals, with two more goals than Gerrard and three more goals than Firmino.
In addition, in the Champions League's African players' goal list, Mane is currently second only to Drogba, Salah and Eto'o. In the Champions League knockout rounds, Mane scored 14 goals, and drogba, known as "Andy Lau of Africa", was tied for the African player who scored the most goals in the Champions League knockout rounds. It is worth mentioning that Mane's last 20 Champions League goals, 14 from the knockout rounds, can be said to be the kind of player who can be trusted in hard battles.
Another set of figures can also illustrate his importance to the team, in the 59 home games he scored, Liverpool achieved an unbeaten record of 55 wins and 4 draws, saying that Mane is a lucky star is not too much. The historical record shows that Liverpool have a huge advantage in promotion, and if Mane can play so well in the second leg, there should be no surprise that the "Reds" eliminated their opponents.
Text/Beiqing Sports Zhang Kunlong