Liverpool forward Sadio Mane has dismissed Pep Guardiola’s criticism of him as attention-seeking and sarcastically promised to keep on diving.
The build-up to the Reds’ showdown with Manchester City on Sunday has been dominated by Guardiola’s comment in a BBC interview last weekend that the Senegal star ‘sometimes dives, sometimes scores incredible goals’.
Jurgen Kloop was irritated enough to take a swipe at Guardiola before his side’s Champions League match against Genk, and Mane spoke out after the 2-1 victory on Tuesday.
Mane has been brought down for penalties against Leicester and Tottenham in the past month, while he was also booked after going down in the area against Aston Villa five days ago. He made the most of Frederic Guilbert’s challenge but replays showed there had been some contact.
When asked about Guardiola — who has subsequently offered an apology of sorts — Mane gave a wry smile.
Guardiola
It was, he felt, a ploy from City’s manager to put him in the mind of this weekend’s match official, Michael Oliver, but the 27-year-old says the scrutiny will not make any difference to how he performs.
‘I will be ready to give everything possible, and to help my team. If it could be a penalty, for sure I will dive again. If the dive will give me a penalty, then I will do it to get it back! Why not? But what Jurgen said is correct. I do not dive. At Aston Villa, there was contact. Maybe it was not a penalty and the referee (Jon Moss) didn’t give it. He gave me a yellow card,”said Mane, whose form in 2019 has been outstanding.
‘I don’t have any problem about it. We have seen many people, some diving and get penalties, some (deserved) a penalty and the referee didn’t give it. That’s football. You have to deal with it. It’s what I want to keep doing. If I get a penalty, yeah, it’s a penalty. If no penalty, no penalty — but I won’t change the way I play,’ her added.
Mane will have a key role to play and added: ‘It will be really important. It’s a big game and everybody’s excited.’
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