[Officially] Bayern misses Mane's services in front of Paris Saint-Germain

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It was confirmed that Sadio Mane was absent from facing Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League.

The Senegalese star, who joined Bayern this season, was injured last November before the start of the 2022 World Cup and missed his country’s matches.

Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann said at the press conference: "We expect Mane to return at the end or mid-February. Things look fine and he does not feel pain."

"But he will certainly miss the first match against Paris Saint-Germain," he added.

Bayern will collide with Saint-Germain in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 in mid-February.

The return match will be played on the eighth of next March at the Allianz Arena.

Bayern leads the league table with 36 points, one point ahead of Union Berlin, who are in second place.

Salah and Mane renew rivalry over top African player award 2022

 

Another traditional battle between the former Liverpool stars, Salah and Mane, will happen in Rabat on Thursday when the annual African award winners are announced.  

The final list of candidates for the award, announced by the African Football Confederation (CAF) on Wednesday morning, included Salah and Mane, along with Chelsea goalkeeper and Senegalese national team Edouard Mendy.

Mane had a crucial role in leading Senegal in beating Salah's Egyptian team in the final of the African cup of nations 2021 and the qualifying round for the World Cup finals scheduled in Qatar at the end of this year, as well.

The two games were in Cameron and Senegal, where the Teranga Lions won both games. With Mane scoring his two kicks, he enabled his country to win the cup before Salah got his turn in the shooting. Salah also lost his spot-kick in the decisive qualifying round for the Qatar World Cup.

Senegal's victories this year have made Mane more likely to win the award of best player, which he won once in 2019.

If Mane won the award, he will become the first Bayern Munich star to be chosen as the best African footballer. 

He was the closest player to german champion Samuel Kufuor in 1999 and 2001 when he finished second. 

Mane moved to Bayern last month on a three-year deal from Liverpool, where he joined it in 2016 from Southampton, and he was described by German coach Jürgen Klopp as a " world-class" striker."

 "My only criticism of Sadio is that he may sometimes be the only person who doesn't realize how good he is," Klopp said. 

Liverpool defender Andy Robertson praised Mane and said: "Whenever he's in front of you in the goal area, you never think he'll miss the chance."

Salah won the award in 2017 and 2018: before Mane raised, in the following year, the number of winners from Liverpool of this award to four after Senegalese Hajji Diouf won the prize in 2002. 

a Special season for Salah

The Egyptian star made a great 2021-2022 season with the Reds, sharing the Golden Boot award with Tottenham's South Korean scorer Son Heung-min.

Salah was awarded the English Premier League Player of the Year award by the Professional Footballers' Association and the Football Writers' Association.

Rashford's first impressions about Ten Hag's start with Manchester United

Marcus Rashford has disclosed his impression about working with the new coach Eric Ten Hag.

Among the players who returned from Carrington last Monday and trained under the new Dutch coach Ten Hag, Rashard was one of them.

 In his statements to the club site, Rashford said: "There is a "buzz and feeling of excitement" around the Manchester United training ground again."

He added:“It is just about, one, getting the principles right of how Erik wants us to play and the details, and, two, enjoying it.

“in the first week of training we have done both and everyone is looking forward to going on the tour and putting what we have done in training into the first games.

“It's a fresh start for everyone and me precisely after I've been gone for so long, it's important that we start the training well,” Rushford continued.

And about his personal opinion, he said: "I think I haven't had a perfect preparation period since 2019, so it's a positive thing for me."

"I needed to rest. And the time I got helped me focus on the future early." My vacation lasted about four weeks, and I divided it into two weeks of rest and two weeks of training, so I can say it was a good time." .”

"I feel ready for the next stage, and when the first game comes, it will be good that I have trained before it for nearly six weeks," he said. 

Weeks ago, it was reported that Ajax's former coach would lead Manchester United next season.

Believe it or not: Lionel Messi refused to renew his contract with Barcelona because of Sadio Mane! That's what happened

Because of the failure of Barcelona to sign then-Liverpool winger Sadio Mané, Paris Saint-Germain star Lionel Messi left Barcelona last summer, according to French reports.

The report stated that Sadio Mané was part of Messi's negotiations with the Catalan club to sign Mané, before moving to France due to the financial problems of the club; which prevented it from registering Messi's contract.

Messi imposed Sadio Mané in the deal with Barcelona, who failed to renew with Messi and didn't sign the Senegalese winger either.

The 35-year-old moved to Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer last summer and now Sadio Mane has moved from Liverpool to Bayern Munich.

Signing with Mané was the demand of Messi to stay in Barcelona.

"Last year Manny could have moved to FC Barcelona." Mani's agent Bakary Cissé told The French radio newspaper Monte Carlo.

"It was Lionel Messi who imposed sadio Mane's on Barcelona in order to renew his contract. He demanded Sadio and an Argentine defender to stay at the Camp Nou." Added Cissé

Cissé also revealed that Paris Saint-Germain was interested in signing Mane this summer, but the deal was not completed due to the departure of sporting director Leonardo.

“Paris Saint-Germain has already asked Sadio, Leonardo has made several contacts and discussed Sadio's transfer possibilities to Paris Saint-Germain, but it ended there." Cissé said Three years ago, Messi expressed his admiration for Sadio by voting for him in FIFA's Best Men's Player award.

“It's a shame to see Mane finish in fourth place. “But I think there have been a lot of great players this year".  “That's why it was difficult to choose a particular player”. "But I chose Sadio Mane (for The Best award) because he's a player that I like." he added.