Sadio Mane has provided a brief insight into his superb recent form, on the back of Liverpool securing their place in the final-4 of the Champions League.
Liverpool continue to impress
Jurgen Klopp’s men travelled to the Estádio do Dragão last night, for the 2nd-leg of their Champions League semi-final tie with Portuguese giants Porto.
The Reds headed into proceedings as clear favourites to advance, having secured a 2-0 win in the tie’s opener at Anfield last week.
And, when all was said and done in Portugal, not only did Liverpool book their spot in the final-4 of European football’s elite club competition for the 2nd time in 2 years, but they did so in style.
Sadio Mane opened the game’s scoring with 26 minutes on the clock to essentially put the tie to bed, before Mohamed Salah added the visitors’ 2nd of the night just past the hour mark.
Porto did manage to pull one back through Eder Militao just minutes later, but Liverpool’s sheer superiority eventually saw the Premier League giants add a further 2 goals within the closing quarter of an hour, through Roberto Firmino and Virgil Van Dijk.
Mane on fire
On a night where a number of the Reds’ stars impressed yet again, one player to have stood out statistically was Sadio Mane.
Senegalese wide-man Mane is currently in the midst of the finest spell of form of his career, with his strike at the Dragão having taken the former Southampton man’s goal tally to 13 since the turn of the year.
As such, speaking in the aftermath of his latest superb showing, Mane was last night questioned on what he feels has been the secret behind his recent brilliance.
And, before opening up on the challenge that awaits his side in their Champions League semi-final tie with Barcelona, Mane pinpointed two factors as key to his form:
‘Hard work, and luck.’