- Mane and Firmino were happy to see each other in the tunnel after a match
- The two aren’t having the easiest time in Saudi Arabia, but they were all smiles
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Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino smiled and hugged as they were reunited after a Saudi Pro League match.
The former Liverpool teammates shook hands, shared a joke and appeared happy to see each other despite a high-stakes result.
Cristiano Ronaldo had converted a penalty to ensure Mane’s Al-Nassr side kept their disappearing title hopes alive – leaving Firmino’s Al-Ahli nine points behind in third place.
Al-Nassr itself is nine points behind undefeated leader Al-Hilal, who stormed to the title thanks to Aleksandar Mitrovic’s goals.
After the match, Firmino was holding a yellow Al-Nassr shirt, so it is possible he and Mane had swapped kits.
Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino hugged each other after the Saudi Pro League match between Al-Nassr and Al-Ahli
The two had a fleeting reunion and showed a lot of love and respect for each other in the tunnel
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Their reunion was fleeting – less than 20 seconds on camera – before they parted ways and Mane received a pat on the back from Ronaldo.
Mane had assisted Ronaldo for a goal in the 42nd minute, but VAR ruled that out.
Firmino then scored a simple tap-in in the second half, but it was also disallowed, making Ronaldo’s later penalty the only goal of the match.
They also played against each other earlier in the season when Al-Nassr won 4-3 in a dramatic home match.
While cashing in with two of Saudi Arabia’s top clubs, Mane and Firmino haven’t been able to make it all plain sailing.
Brazilian star Firmino, 32, played sixteen games without a goal and was even dropped to the bench in the run-up to the winter break.
He has six goals and four assists in 23 games, but that is a far cry from his most prolific season at Anfield, where he scored 27 goals and 17 assists in 2017/18.
Mane, 31, is doing slightly better.
Cristiano Ronaldo converted a penalty to help Al-Nassr win 1-0 – after goals for him and Firmino were ruled out
Former Liverpool friends Mane and Firmino haven’t had the easiest of times in Saudi Arabia – Firmino even had a 16-match drought
He has found the net thirteen times and provided seven assists for his teammates, putting him in line with Ronaldo.
Other players such as Karim Benzema and Jordan Henderson found it difficult to adapt to the conditions in Saudi Arabia before he left for Ajax.
On the other hand, some have done well. Players like Odion Ighalo and Fashion Sakala have comfortably outscored Benzema, Mane and Firmino and lead the pack for lower status teams.
Ronaldo has scored 50 goals for Al-Nassr since joining the club in January 2022 and tops the league table with 23 goals this season.