Jurgen Klopp was forced to address 'little story' between Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane

Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane go head-to-head for a place at the Africa Cup of Nations final on Wednesday, with the pair having not always seen eye-to-eye during their time together at Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp had to address an apparent fallout between Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane(Image: Getty Images)

Jurgen Klopp once found himself having to play down an apparent falling-out between Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane after a heated exchange between the two on the pitch.

The former Liverpool teammates go head-to-head on Wednesday as Egypt faces Senegal in the semifinals of the Africa Cup of Nations, with a place in Sunday’s final up for grabs for the winner. Salah, who has scored four goals already in the tournament, is aiming to win the competition for the first time in his career this year.

The game is a replay of the 2021 final, which saw Mane come out on top after Senegal won its first AFCON title via a penalty shootout, with the former Red scoring the winning spot-kick.

Salah will be aiming for revenge, and he may not need too much incentive to try and get the better of his former teammate.

It is common knowledge that Salah and Mane didn’t always see eye-to-eye during their time together at Anfield, even if their performances on the pitch suggested a closer bond.

One infamous incident left a furious Mane raging during a clash with Burnley back in 2019. The forward was visibly upset after being substituted late in the game, seemingly with Salah after the Egyptian decided against playing a simple pass to him, which could have presented him with a chance.

Sadio Mane was visibly angry after being substituted against Burnley in 2019(Image: Getty Images)

Mane’s teammates tried and failed to try and calm him down, with Roberto Firmino shooting a wry smile to the cameras as he made his way back to the dressing room alongside his fellow forwards in a moment that has gone down in Liverpool folklore.

Klopp though played down the situation after the game, insisting that tensions had been resolved quickly.

"He was upset, that was obvious," Klopp said. "Sadio cannot hide his emotions and I like that. It's all sorted.

"We spoke about it and everything is fine. We are individuals, we are emotional. It was a situation in the game he wasn't happy about - that's completely fine.

"Would he do it in exactly the same manner again? Probably not, but it happens. Nothing happened, he didn't say any wrong words.

"Of course, I can understand that it's a little story. Thank God we are now away for a week, so if you write something about it, we will not read it anyway. And after a week, nobody can remember anymore, so it's a really cool moment to do it. But it is all good really, all fine."

Whatever Klopp did to de-escalate the situation seemingly worked, with Liverpool going on to win the Premier League title that season, with Salah and Mane scoring 37 league goals between them.

The pair will be on opposite sides on Wednesday though, with Salah looking to go a step closer to finally ending his long wait for the AFCON title.