Sadio Mane has issued a warning to his former club, Liverpool, that Bayern Munich will beat Liverpool if they’re to meet in the Champions League this season.
The two champions last met in the champions league competition back in the 2018/19 season in the round of 16. After a goalless draw at Anfield, the Reds got the job done in Munich as Mane scored twice on the night to help Liverpool reach the quarter-finals.
However, Mane said if the duo meets this season, he will not hesitate to repeat what he did as Bayern will trash Liverpool.
The Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League, and Club World Cup winner with Liverpool, Sadio Mane joined Bayern Munich from Liverpool for a fee of £35m this season.
Mane in an interview with BBC Sport Africa last month stated that his reason for quitting Liverpool was to seek a new challenge, and is expected to make his Bundesliga debut against Eintracht Frankfurt in today’s match
However, Former DR Congo captain Gabriel Zakuani asserts that Mane might have some difficulties in his new club as he will have to adapt to a new system in Germany as Bayern playing style is different from the English team, Liverpool. In an interview with BBC Sport Africa, Zakuani said: “We know Mane is a workhorse – and he’s got the quality to go with it – but it will be difficult for him”.
“I think it could be a different sort of challenge for him, because at Liverpool he had a system spot on, in that he had everyone doing the hard work with him.
“With Bayern Munich it’s completely different – they play a different style, so he may struggle to adapt, but Mane is the sort of player that loves learning.
“We’ve seen the changes he’s had since he was at Southampton, and how he’s become a world star. Now he’s going to Bayern as a big-name player, so I’d expect him to do well, eventually, but it may take him a little bit of time to bed in.”
Who is Gabriel Zakuani ?
Gabriel Abdala Zakuani was born in May 31, 1986. He is a Congolese retired professional footballer who played as a defender. He was most recently the manager of Spalding United before leaving the club in 2021.
Zakuani started his career with Leyton Orient and he was one of the prominent players of the club before moving to Fulham in 2006 where he spent half a season.
He was last seen as a footballer at Dagenham & Redbridge before coaching Spalding United in 2020.
However, Zakuani stepped down from his manager duty to focus on his business and media career in 2021.
Sadio Mane cannot be compared to Lewandowski: Zakuani
While comparing Mane to Robert Lewandowski who left Bayern for Barcelona this summer, Zakuani believes the renowned African men’s Player of the Year is completely different from the 33-year-old superstar, who scored 344 goals in 374 games for Bayern.
Zakuani emphasizes the differences between the players in his statement: “I don’t think it’s comparable with Mane playing more from wide, but his goalscoring record was good lately for Liverpool.
“Going into the Bundesliga, they will probably expect him to chip in with the bulk of the goals because of the fee, because a lot of German clubs don’t tend to pay that sort of money.”
“I don’t think it’s a straight swap. I don’t think there are many players like Lewandowski in world football,” He continued.
“But I think (Bayern coach) Julian Nagelsmann is looking for a different type of Bayern attack anyway. We all saw what he did at RB Leipzig. And so it’s probably building smaller mobile forwards and having players like Mane, and [Serge] Gnabry and [Leroy] Sane, who will be interchangeable.
“I think that’s the way that Bayern will play moving forward. If you want to get a younger version of Lewandowski right now, nobody can say exactly who that is.
“They’re looking to the future and Mane is a few years younger than Lewandowski so there’ll be a slightly more fluid Bayern attack – and Mane, style-wise, fits perfectly”.
