Sadio Mane is considered to be “on fire”, with the in-form Liverpool forward delivering again in a Champions League display against Bayern Munich which included a “ridiculous” finish.
The Reds headed to Germany on Wednesday needing inspiration from somewhere in a bid to book their place in the quarter-finals of Europe’s premier club competition.
Mane, as has often been the case over recent weeks, was the man to step up and take the lead.
The Senegal international broke the deadlock at the Allianz Arena inside 26 minutes with a clever piece of improvisation which saw him spin past Manuel Neuer and clip through two recovering defenders.
He then rounded off the scoring six minutes from the end to wrap up a 3-1 win which has Jurgen Klopp’s side still daring to dream of continental glory in 2019.
Mane, who has 10 goals in his last 10 games for Liverpool, is expected to help guide that charge, with James Milner saying of an in-form team-mate: “Sadio is on fire.
“The first goal was ridiculous really, how he finished it off, the calmness and the finish. Hopefully, that continues for the rest of the season.”
Milner added on the Reds’ showing as a collective against a Bayern side that has failed to reach the last eight for the first time since 2011: “I thought it was a good performance away from home in Europe against a good team.
“It's never easy, they're going to have spells on top. We didn't play our best but it's about getting a result.
“We defended pretty well, didn't give them too much, and the front three were outstanding again.”
While there were plenty of positives for Liverpool to take away from a trip to Munich, they did see captain Jordan Henderson suffer a twisted ankle in the first half which forced Fabinho to step in.
“It says a lot about the team and the boys on the bench ready to come on, the squad we’ve got,” said Milner.
“Obviously you work leading up to the game on a plan and how you’re going to play. To lose the captain that early was difficult but we dealt with it well, Fab came on and did very well.
“We’ve got quality all through the squad and that’s what you need when you’re playing against these sorts of teams and in this competition.”
