Liverpool winger Sadio Mane has downplayed the personal importance of his second goal in the team’s 3-1 Champions League quarter-final first-leg win against Benfica on Tuesday.
It was Ibrahima Konate who put the Reds in control at Estadio da Luz when he fired home the opener in the 17th minute before Senegal’s Mane slotted home the second in the 34th minute after an assist from Luis Diaz.
Darwin Nunez then pulled a goal back for Benfica in the 49th minute but Diaz put the icing on the cake for Liverpool in the 87th minute.
“Like I always say, the team is winning – that’s more important [than me scoring]. I scored a goal today; I'm happy but more important were the goals we scored. We’re waiting for the next game and to get the job done at home,” Mane told reporters as quoted by the Liverpool website.
“A great start [to the week]. We can't expect better than that and it will help us to prepare for the next game.”
With Liverpool set to face Manchester City in a Premier League fixture on Sunday, Mane was asked whether manager Jurgen Klopp will make further changes to the squad.
“You’ll have to ask the boss! We are Liverpool, we have a deep squad. Sometimes we make changes to benefit the whole team,” Mane concluded.
By notching against Benfica, the 29-year-old Lion of Teranga surpassed Paris Saint-Germain’s Lionel Messi and moved level with Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo for goals scored in the Champions League knockout stage.
Mane, who joined Liverpool in June 2016, has now scored 13 goals in the knockout stage and in the process overtook Messi, who has managed 12 goals.
Meanwhile, Mane’s goal against Benfica also handed him another landmark at club level, as it was his 22nd goal in the Champions League and in the process he overtook Steven Gerrard (21) as Liverpool’s second-highest goalscorer in the competition, behind Mohamed Salah (33).
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