Sadio Mane begged Roberto Firmino to play against PSG

Liverpool winger Sadio Mane has spoken about his persuasion tactics in order to get team-mate Roberto Firmino to feature in Liverpool’s UEFA Champions League group stage fixture with French giants PSG on Tuesday evening.

Brazilian international Firmino was poised not to be in the matchday squad for yesterday’s evening encounter with the French champions, as he was forced off with an eye injury picked up in a clash with Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen on Saturday afternoon.

However, Firmino was included in the squad after some persuasive words from Mane.

In an interview with the Liverpool Echo, Mane said:

I think Bobby doesn’t need his eye to play so I told him. I sent him a message on Monday saying: ‘Hey Bobby, come on, we need you.’

You’ve all seen the ‘no look’ goals so I think he doesn’t need his eye to play. I texted him saying: ‘You don’t need your eye!’

It’s fair to say that the Liverpool supporters would have gone through a rollercoaster of emotions in yet another dramatic European night at Anfield.

The Reds took the lead through a Daniel Sturridge header, with their lead quickly doubled when James Milner fired home a penalty.

Paris Saint-Germain had however found themselves level with goals from Thomas Meunier and Kylian Mbappe, whose goal brought the two sides equal late into the game.

However, the moment had come when Jurgen Klopp summoned Firmino from the bench, replacing Daniel Sturridge, and ended up scoring the winning goal with just a few moments left of the match with a sweet strike from a difficult angle, placing the ball PSG goalkeeper.

I think it’s a big result, honestly. It is very important for us to keep going on our good run. It was not an easy game because PSG are one of the best teams in the world but we played very well and deserved to win.

It is about desire and belief, it is what we try to do. We have quality in the team and I think we’re mentally free to go forward. We believe until the end. Finally, we scored the third goal which was very important for the team.