Sadio Mane: I've donated 300 Liverpool shirts to my home village in Senegal for the Champions League final

Mané watched the miracle of Istanbul in Bambali but a Liverpool-supporting friend missed out

If Sadio Mané walks off the pitch at the NSC Olimpiyskiy on Saturday night as a Champions League winner, at some point during a long night of celebrations, his thoughts will turn back to his home village of Bambali in south Senegal.

Mané has sent 300 Liverpool shirts to his place of birth so that those he grew up with can watch him and his team-mates take on Real Madrid while sporting the same shade of red.

It was there too that the winger, one third of the devastating front three that has brought Jürgen Klopp’s side to Kiev, remembers watching Liverpool’s last European Cup triumph back in 2005.

Mané was a Barcelona fan then and so a neutral observer on the night but his Liverpool-supporting friend Youssouph Diatta was watching with him – for the first half, at least.

“I remember being with my friend, a big friend of mine, and at 3-0 down he was completely out,” Mané recalls, taking up the story.

“He stopped watching until the end and ran like crazy to get away. Then he came back at the end and he could not believe. Even to this day he cannot believe it. He came back after the game when Liverpool had won!”

Mané and Diatta still speak regularly. “He asked me that this time, do not be 3-0 down,” the winger says. “If you had said then I would be playing the final I would say it is something incredible in my life. Hopefully we are going to win.”

While Mané is in Kiev, Diatta will be watching back in Senegal, cheering on his childhood friend, as will many of Mané’s relatives in Bambali.

“My family still live in the village. My mum and my uncle. They are all going to be watching,” he says. “Nobody in the village will work this day!

“I will be going back in the summer after the World Cup and hopefully I will be showing everyone a [winner’s] medal.”

Mané's story is indicative of the Champions League final’s global reach, as well as the worldwide fan bases that Liverpool can boast.

The 26-year-old believes it would be a stretch to claim that, aside from Madrid supporters, 'the world' wants Liverpool to win but he does believe their cavalier approach and status as underdogs will endear them to many.

“Maybe everyone who is not a Real Madrid, Everton, Man United and Man City fan,” he suggests. “I think everyone else would like to see Liverpool win the trophy. It would be good for football.”

Mané pinpoints the 5-0 victory in the last-16 first leg at Porto - the night of his first Champions League hat-trick - as the moment he started to believe that Liverpool could progress this far into the competition. Now, he wants to finish the job.

“I am just thinking it is incredible, not about pressure,” he says. “Just happy and excited. It is the best time for the whole squad to play. We are in the best shape. There is no tiredness. We are in good shape.

“This kind of game does not happen all the time. It is one of the most important of a career. It will not be easy. They have experience and are one of the best teams in the world, but we have quality and can beat any team in the world.

“I think [Madrid] won it two times and want a third time in a row. We respect them as a great team and great club in history, but Liverpool also has history,” he adds. “It won’t be easy but we will do our best.”