Roberto Firmino shares previously unreleased information about the rivalry between Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.



Liverpool's talisman Mohamed Salah "used to frustrate everyone" in Jurgen Klopp's squad "when he didn't pass the ball" - according to former team-mate Roberto Firmino

According to Roberto Firmino, the infamous incident involving Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane against Burnley "had been brewing since the previous season".


In August 2019, during Liverpool's 3-0 victory at Turf Moor, Salah and Mane got into a fight. Before fluffing a shot, Salah refused to square the ball to Mane in space, setting off the incident. Mane lost it over his team-mate and had a major tantrum when he was replaced.




Firmino saw the row play out and became hooked at the same moment. Fans will recall the forward's amusing response when he was seen giggling at the tunnel incident on camera. Liverpool posted the caption, "Wait for Roberto Firmino's face," along with laughing emojis on Instagram.

In his recently published autobiography, Si Senor: My Liverpool Years, Firmino recounts the incident. The 32-year-old, who joined Al-Ahli of the Saudi Pro League in the summer after leaving Liverpool, also disclosed how Salah "used to frustrate everyone when he didn't pass the ball"



During their time together at Liverpool, Firmino, Salah, and Mane established one of the best offensive trios in Europe, helping Jurgen Klopp's team win the FA Cup, Carabao Cup, Premier League, Champions League, European Super Cup, and Club World Cup.


However, Klopp's management of Salah and Mane wasn't always simple. When they were vying for the Premier League's Golden Boot the previous season, the two's friendship grew strained. Pierre-Emerick shared the honor with him. 


Firmino maintains that Mane was irritated by getting hooked as much as he was by Salah's refusal to square the ball. He wrote: "Well, I can't tell you precisely what Mane shouted as he came off because my English isn't that great. But that wasn't pleasant at all."


Firmino is also baffled as to why he made a "ironic" look in the corridor following the match. It was "funny" how the post-match scene went down, but "their argument wasn't funny," he says. He goes on to say: "I couldn't help smiling... the cameras caught everything."


Firmino affirms that Mane and Salah "never best friends," but he also says that "they always acted with the utmost professionalism." Additionally, he considered himself as the "peacemaker" among the three of them and called Mane "the most explosive of the three of us".