Sadio Mane has revealed he came close to joining Manchester United in 2016, agreeing a contract with the Red Devils before making a last-minute decision to join Liverpool after a call from Jurgen Klopp.
Mane has scored 23 goals in 50 appearances for Liverpool in all competitions this term, helping Klopp's team to win the EFL Cup and FA Cup trophies, while the Reds could yet add the Champions League when they face Real Madrid in Saturday's final in Paris.
The 30-year-old scored when Liverpool faced Madrid in the 2018 final in Kyiv, though substitute Gareth Bale netted a brace to condemn Klopp's side to a 3-1 defeat.
Liverpool are bidding to win their seventh European crown at the Stade de France, and Mane has been touted as a potential Ballon d'Or contender after also firing Senegal to their first Africa Cup of Nations title earlier this year.
However, things could have been very different for Mane, who said he had the chance to join Liverpool's rivals United when he departed Southampton in 2016.
Speaking to former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher in an interview for the Telegraph, Mane recalled how a phone call from Klopp, who had attempted to sign him for former club Borussia Dortmund on a previous occasion, saw his head turn.
"I have to say, I was really close to going to Manchester United," Mane said. "I had the contract there. I had it all agreed.
"It was all ready, but instead I thought, 'no, I want to go to Liverpool'. I was convinced to go with Klopp's project.
"I still remember the first time I got the call from Klopp. He said, 'Sadio, listen, I want to explain to you what happened at Dortmund'.
"That was when he thought of signing me for Dortmund and for some reason, it didn't work out. He tried to explain and I said, 'it's okay, it happened'. I forgave him.
"Then he said, 'now I want you at Liverpool', and I said, 'okay, Dortmund is behind us, let's focus on the future'. He said, 'we have a big project at Liverpool and I want you to be part of it'."
Mane scored in both legs of Liverpool's Champions League semi-final win over Villarreal, setting up the Reds' ninth European Cup/Champions League meeting with Madrid.
Having won the first three such contests between 1981 and 2009, however, Liverpool are winless in the last five (one draw, four defeats), including their 2018 final loss.
Struggling Roma edge Torino as Lazio put five past Como
Roma’s embattled manager Ivan Juric found a small reprieve as his side scraped past Torino 1-0 for their first win in four Serie A matches.
Paulo Dybala scored the winning goal in the 20th minute, pouncing on a poor backpass from Karol Linetty and rounding Torino goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic before applying the finish.
The result meant that Roma climbed up to 10th place, with 13 points from 10 matches and relieved some pressure off Juric, who is under the microscope only a month and a half into his tenure in Rome.
Torino, meanwhile, are now only one point ahead of the Giallorossi after their fourth defeat from five outings.
Elsewhere in Italy, fifth-placed Lazio posted a commanding 5-1 win over 15th-placed Como in a game that saw both sides finish with 10 men.
LaLiga clubs pledge to help raise money for victims of Spain's flash floods
LaLiga and its clubs will help raise funds for the Red Cross to support those affected by the flash floods which have killed at least 158 people in Spain.
The league aim to raise the money by publicising a campaign during match broadcasts this weekend and through their social media accounts.
After the Spanish FA postponed seven midweek Cup ties and all games scheduled for Valencia's eastern region this weekend, it asked competition organisers to observe a minute's silence before matches that will be played as a tribute to the victims.
"Spain's professional football joins the condolences and expresses its solidarity with the families of the victims and the missing," LaLiga said in a statement on Thursday.
Real Madrid announced they would also collaborate with the Red Cross and donate one million euros ($1.09 million).
"The Real Madrid Foundation and the Red Cross have today launched a fundraising campaign to support those affected by the storm and the club have decided to support this campaign with a donation of one million euros to help the many families who are in a critical situation and need all our help and solidarity," the Spanish champions said in a statement.
Six postponed Copa del Rey games have been rescheduled for next week, leaving Real Sociedad's match against Jove Espanyol in Alicante as the only tie without a new fixture date.
LaLiga asked the 10 affected clubs in the top two divisions to submit a proposal for new dates before next Tuesday.
Saturday's LaLiga match between Valencia and visitors Real Madrid plus Villarreal's clash with Rayo Vallecano are among the games postponed, as Valencia made the Mestalla stadium available as a drop-off point for donations of food and essential items.
Vanney aims to wrap up playoff tie after LA Galaxy's 'best performance' against Rapids
Greg Vanney will hope for a repeat of LA Galaxy's five-star victory in game one that represented “one of their best" performances to wrap up his MLS playoff clash with Colorado Rapids in two games.
Vanney’s tactical masterplan saw Galaxy triumph 5-0 at home as they restricted Colorado to just one shot and an expected goals (xG) total of 0.03 while accumulating 2.46 xG themselves.
The LA Galaxy boss made his name at Toronto FC, where he won the MLS Cup as well as three Eastern Conference playoff titles. When he resigned in 2020, it was Colorado’s Chris Armas who took up the mantle but did not fare as well.
Early indications of their meeting in the playoffs suggest Vanney is proving his knack for success remains and is winning the battle of the ex-Toronto bosses.
“I thought it was a very clean performance, and probably one of the best. I can't remember all 34 at this point, 35 now, but it was definitely one of the best ones, I think, and at a good time,” Vanney reflected on the performance post-match.
LA Galaxy had emerged victorious in both prior meetings this season, but neither time had they managed to keep a clean sheet. Yet in game one, Armas’ side struggled to even penetrate their box with just 10 touches inside it all game.
“[Vanney] has been great, and he has a lot of experience. This week was everything. In the playoffs, we need to set the tone and set the intensity. He did that right from, not just this week, but of course [because of] playoffs, training was intense,” said goalscorer John Nelson.
“Defensively, we needed to do that, and that's what he talked about the whole week. Like you saw tonight, we were relentless. We were fouling. We weren't giving them anything.
“So the whole week’s focus was to counter-press defensively, and we know we're going to score goals. We showed that tonight.”
Armas will need to find a way to beat his Toronto predecessor in a must-win game for his side at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, owing to the best-of-three playoff format.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Colorado Rapids – Djordje Mihailovic
If the Rapids are to take the match back to LA Galaxy for a decider, they will need goals and Mihailovic will be crucial. He boasts the second-most goals scored for Colorado (11) in the MLS, only four behind top scorer Rafael Navarro.
He is also their top assister (10), meaning he has the most goal contributions on the squad (21). Distribution is clearly a strong point as he has more than double the number of key passes (87) than any other Rapids player – Cole Bassett comes closest on 35.
LA Galaxy - Dejan Joveljic
Galaxy's top scorer, Joveljic, has 17 goals in the MLS so far this season and has also delivered the lowest minutes per goal (118.6). He will surely hope to add to the tally when he travels to Colorado.
He was on target in game one as he and Riqui Puig each scored twice in Galaxy’s win over Colorado.
It makes them the third pair of Galaxy teammates to each score twice in a playoff game, along with Cobi Jones and Carlos Ruiz in 2002 and Carlos Hermosillo and Danny Pena in 1998.
MATCH PREDICTION – LA GALAXY WIN
Galaxy have won each of their three meetings with Colorado this season, including the 5-0 win in Game One on Saturday.
Prior to that, Galaxy had won only one of their 11 matches against the Rapids between 2018 and 2023 (D3 L7).
That 5-0 win was only the seventh win by a margin of at least five goals in MLS Cup playoff history. It was the third of those by Galaxy, who also beat Dallas, 6-1, in 1998 and defeated Real Salt Lake, 5-0, in 2014.
Colorado were held to just one shot in their 5-0 loss to Galaxy. It was the first time this century that the Rapids had only one shot in an MLS match, regular season or playoffs.
The hosts are a team out of form and have lost five straight matches dating back to the regular season, with two of those defeats coming against Galaxy.
Prior to this drought, however, the Rapids had lost just three of their previous 13 regular-season matches dating back to the middle of June (W9 D1).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Colorado Rapids – 32.5%
Draw – 25.5%
LA Galaxy – 42.0%
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