Klopp tells Mane to 'pay back with football' if teams target him

Liverpool forward has been on the receiving end of rough treatment for a long time, says Klopp

Liverpool's Sadio Mane in action during the Champions League match against Porto. EPA

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp urged forward Sadio Mane to control his emotions when opponents try to wind him up and "pay them back" with the quality of his football.

Klopp was involved in an ugly altercation with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta during Liverpool's 4-0 win last weekend after the Arsenal bench appealed for action to be taken against Mane for his aerial challenge on Takehiro Tomiyasu.

Klopp said opposition players often try to antagonise Mane, who has scored nine goals for Liverpool in 17 games in all competitions this season.

"It has been a thing for much longer," Klopp told British media on Friday. "Even when it was not obvious to the outside, you can see it in games that they go for him because they want to wind him up.

"But it is two different things; one is to make Sadio really aggressive during the game, we saw that against Flamengo in the [2019] Club World Cup final.

"Rafinha wanted to go for him after he caused them some problems when we played Bayern [Munich] in the Champions League [in 2019]. It was obvious from the first second when he went in really hard."

Klopp said he has spoken to Mane about how to deal with such situations.

"Sadio is now of an age where he is not that emotional anymore. But we all need emotions obviously and sometimes we control them better and sometimes less," Klopp added.

"We've had these talks ... The headline [from our discussions] is: 'We pay back with football. Whatever we do, we pay them back with football."

Liverpool host Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday.

Southampton's Mohammed Salisu. AP Photo

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl sees “no reason” why Saints centre-back Mohammed Salisu cannot become as accomplished as Liverpool’s Virgil Van Dijk.

Ghanaian Salisu this week hailed former Saints defender Van Dijk as one of the world’s best defenders and revealed his aspirations of reaching the same level.

Netherlands international Van Dijk left the south coast for £75 million in January 2018 and has since won the Champions League and Premier League with Liverpool.

The pair will be on opposing sides on Saturday afternoon when their clubs meet at Anfield.

After a slow start to life in England following his 2020 summer move from Spanish club Real Valladolid, Salisu has become increasingly influential at St Mary’s, starting all but one of 12 top-flight games this term.

“It shows you how much he had to learn that it took so long until he was an option for the starting XI,” said Saints boss Hasenhuttl.

“Especially with the ball, he can develop massively.

“When you speak about Van Dijk with his long balls and his calmness on the ball, he still has a way to go. But there’s no reason why he couldn’t learn it.

“A good thing is that in the centre-back position, the older you get, the better you get because of the more experience you get.

“This is definitely a player that showed this season that he deserved to play from the beginning and I’m very happy with his progress.”

Liverpool v Porto ratings

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  LIVERPOOL RATINGS: Alisson Becker - 6: The Brazilian was not unduly troubled but made one howler of a pass that allowed Porto a chance. Otherwise his distribution was fine. EPA

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  Neco Williams - 5: The 20-year-old got caught in no-man’s land on occasion and struggled with Diaz’s pace. He exerted more control in the second half. AFP

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  Joel Matip - 6: The 30-year-old was comfortable and maintained his composure even during Porto’s better spells. He had a chance with a header from a corner. EPA

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  Ibrahima Konate - 4: The Frenchman is still feeling his way into the team. He was the weakest link in the defence and his twitchiness was apparent throughout. Action Images

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  Tyler Morton - 6: The 19-year-old showed some nice touches and was always available for the ball. He played a part in setting up the second goal and will grow for the experience. EPA

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  Thiago Alcantara - 8: The 30-year-old showed his masterful technique when scoring from distance with the outside of his foot. His passing was equally impressive. He was withdrawn in the 63rd minute to give Henderson a run out. EPA

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  Mohamed Salah - 7: It looked as if it was going to be one of the Egyptian’s quieter nights until he got a sniff of goal in the 70th minute. The ball flew into the net and Salah made way for Fabinho a minute later after scoring with his last kick of the game. EPA

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  Sadio Mane - 6: The Senegalese had a goal ruled out for offside, missed a reasonable chance but was not quite up to his usual standard. He made way for Origi with 18 minutes left. EPA

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  SUBS: Andrew Robertson - 7: The Scot joined the action in the 63rd minute for Tsimikas and attacked the game as if determined to let everyone know that he is the first-choice left back. EPA

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  Fabinho - 6: The Brazilian helped shore up the midfield after coming on for Salah in the 71st minute. He killed any attacks at source. Reuters

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  Divock Origi - 7: The Belgian replaced Mane in the 72nd minute and was full of running. His control was excellent and his directness scared the defence. PA

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  James Milner - 6: The 35-year-old joined the game with eight minutes to go for Oxlade-Chamberlain and produced a physical cameo that led to him earning a yellow card that will rule him out of the final group game. AP

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  PORTO RATINGS: Diogo Costa - 4: The 22-year-old almost gave away a goal by playing a pass straight at Minamino and looks a liability whenever the ball is at his feet. He might have done better on Salah’s goal. AFP

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  Joao Mario - 6: The 21-year-old showed plenty of attacking intent and did well against the threat of Mane. Porto were more solid down his side. Reuters

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  Chancel Mbemba - 5: The Congolese had to adjust to the loss of his central defensive partner early in the game and never appeared confident afterwards. He was uncertain under pressure. AP

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  Pepe - 5: The 38-year-old lasted 25 minutes before limping off to be replaced by Cardoso. The defence looked more secure when he was on the pitch. AP

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  Zaidu Sanusi - 5: The Nigerian seemed to have a handle on Salah until he got under the ball and lost track of the Egyptian, who punished the lapse with the second goal. AFP

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  Otavio - 4: The 26-year-old missed a sitter in front of the Kop and ballooned another chance over the bar. He made one sublime pass but Taremi wasted the opportunity. EPA

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  Andres Uribe - 4: The Colombian shot just wide after a smart turn in the box. His sliding challenge that failed to stop Salah scoring the second was less clever, though. He was replaced by Grujic with 12 minutes to go. Getty

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  Luis Diaz - 6: The Colombian’s pace troubled the defence but the lack of end product was disappointing. His choices when passing were questionable. EPA

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  Evanilson - 4: The Brazilian laboured in vain and was lightweight and ineffective. His touch indicated that he had little confidence and he was taken off for Martinez with 13 minutes to go. EPA

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  Mehdi Taremi - 4: The Iranian inexplicably crossed the ball when he was free on goal in the area, wasting one of the best chances in the game. He was replaced by Vitinha in the 64th minute. EPA

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  Francisco Conceicao - 4: The coach’s son replaced Tarimi in the 64th minute but his inexperience showed. The 18-year-old was not robust enough for a game like this. EPA

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  Toni Martinez - 4: The Spaniard came on for Evanilson with 13 minutes left and struggled to make any impact on the match. EPA

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  Marko Grujic - 4: The former Liverpool midfielder replaced Uribe with 12 minutes left. He misplaced a couple of passes on an unhappy return to Anfield. AP