Roberto Firmino is such an important cog in the Liverpool machine Sadio Mane was texting him 24 hours before their match against Paris St Germain urging the Brazil international to declare himself fit for the Champions League opener.
Firmino sustained an abrasion to the cornea in his left eye in the weekend win at Tottenham after a clash with Jan Vertonghen and did not train on Sunday or Monday as a result.
Even manager Jurgen Klopp admitted he thought the 26-year-old had "no chance" of playing when he saw him on Monday, but Mane was not prepared to give up on his team-mate.
"I think Bobby doesn't need his eye to play so I told him," said the Senegal international after the thrilling 3-2 win over PSG.
"I sent him a message on Monday saying, 'Hey Bobby, come on, we need you'.
"You've all seen the 'no look' goals so I think he doesn't need his eye to play. I texted him saying, 'You don't need your eye'."
UCL is Back ! First Step done with the team ✅ 3pts won against PSG 🙏🏾 We have to fight more and more ❤️
— Sadio Mane #10FP (@SadioMane10FP) September 19, 2018
Merci à tous les supporters pour la force ⚽️❤️🤙🏾 pic.twitter.com/BWBBmk9XZx
Whether that had any influence or not Firmino walked into Melwood on the morning of the match and told Klopp he was fit to play.
The manager put him on the bench, but brought him on with 20 minutes to go and he scored the added-time winner to extend Liverpool's 100 per cent record to six matches.
"It's a great start. It is too early to speak about anything, but it is very important for us to focus more because we are Liverpool, we are a stronger team, and we will try to do our best every game," added Mane.
"I think it's a big result (against PSG) honestly. It is very important for us to keep going on our good run.
"It was not an easy game because PSG are one of the best teams in the world, but we played very well and deserved to win."
