Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Mane: It’s win or bust
Bayern win proves we can do anything
SADIO MANE reckons Liverpool must win every league game if they are going to lift the title – starting with Spurs today.
Mane, who has scored 12 goals in his last 12 games, said: “Every game will be a final, and we cannot fail in any of them if we want to be champions.
“We are ready for two hard months. The key is to forget about Manchester City, and focus only on our matches and nothing else.
“In my mind, success depends on us – and only us.”
SADIO MANE believes Liverpool’s brilliant Champions League victory in Munich proves they can handle the title-race pressure.
The Reds stunned the football world with their 3-1 away win over Bayern Munich to reach the Champions League’s last-eight stage.
And as fellow quarter-finalists Tottenham arrive at Anfield today, the Reds are determined to use that selfbelief to end their agonising 29-year wait for a league title.
“Of course, this is a big game,” said Mane. “It’s the first ‘final’ of seven in a row for us in the Premier League. But this team is prepared to withstand the pressure, I’m sure of that.
“If you look at the history of this club, it has always fought in the most difficult moments and has achieved special things when it seemed impossible.
“Liverpool is a champion team and we’ve shown that this season, even in matches as demanding as Munich. That result proved to us what we can achieve.”
Mane has even more reason than most to give absolutely everything in the battle for Liverpool’s first-ever Premier League title success.
After all, he began his football life as a kid on the streets of a small village in Senegal called Sedhiou – a million miles away from the glamour and glitz of English top-flight football.
Mane recalled: “At that time, I dreamed just of playing for one of the big teams in my country, I wouldn’t have believed I could be in a big league with a club like Liverpool fighting for the title.
“But here I am! It would mean so much to me and to people in Senegal to lift the trophy.
“When I was a boy, I thought more about French football than English, even though, of course, we knew about the Premier
League.
“And although there were some friends with Liverpool shirts in my village, Manchester United were the most followed English club.
“Now, so many people in Senegal follow Liverpool and, if I can win the Premier League here, I promise you there will be a lot of joy in Senegal too!”
Part of Liverpool’s increased profile in Mane’s home nation is due not just to him, but to Senegal star El Hadji Diouf (below), who played at Anfield between 2002 and 2005
“Diouf was a much-loved player in my country,” added Mane. “But he could not win the league here – and it would make me so happy to do it for him.”
There are a lot of people Mane would want to thank if his dream did come true and the trophy finally arrived at Anfield.
Not least his family, who, although initially dubious about his career in football, sacrificed so much to help him on his way.
“At first, nobody in my family believed that a career in football would work for me and I spent more time with my uncle than with my parents,” he said.
“But, in the end, they sold the field harvest for a whole year and I was able to get to Dakar. That was when it started for me.”
It was there that Mane got his big break, passing a trial for the Generation Foot Academy and being taken in by a host family who helped him deal with homesickness – and supported his progress.
“If I win the title, I would dedicate it to all those who trusted me from Dakar,” said Mane. “That’s where my life as a footballer was made. They gave me a chance, I gave my best and now it’s time collect the trophies.”
Mane’s pathway from Dakar to Liverpool took time. He moved, first, to Metz in France, then to Southampton and finally to Anfield. He credits Kop manager Jurgen Klopp with taking him to another level.
Mane said: “The boss has trusted me ever since I came to Liverpool and I try to return his belief. I have come a long way, from playing in the streets in Dakar. Not all African boys can become pros in Europe and these memories have helped me to never to give up. “It wasn’t an easy road, but, when you want to escape poverty and hunger, you work miracles to survive – and when you see an opportunity you take it.”
That’s exactly the focus Liverpool will need today – and as they look to take the title race down to the wire.