Liverpool star Sadio Mane scored his 15th goal of the Champions League knockout stages against Villarreal on Tuesday, breaking the record of the highest-scoring African in the competition. It was a record that was previously held by former Chelsea forward Didier Drogba, who had scored 14.
Mane’s goal helped book the Reds through to the Champions League final yet again, completing a dramatic turnaround to beat their Spanish opponents 3-2 on the night and 5-2 on aggregate. They are set to face the winner of Manchester City versus Real Madrid, where the score is 4-3 from the first leg.
If they go on and win it, Jurgen Klopp will earn the Merseyside club a seventh Champions League title, dethroning the Blues, who won it last season. Kai Havertz's solo goal against Manchester City saw them win the competition a second time.
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At the time, new boss Thomas Tuchel had masterminded the push to glory from seemingly nowhere. However, their attempt at a defence of the title was cut short in the quarter-finals by Real Madrid.
Had they have made it through Los Blancos and City, they would have been facing Liverpool in a third cup final this season. The two clubs have already met in the Carabao Cup final earlier this season, with a stalemate resulting in penalties.
Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga missed a decisive spot kick to send the League Cup back to Merseyside. However, they could yet be revenge for the Blues, with an FA Cup final between the two set to be played this month.
Discussing the meeting with the Reds in a few weeks time, Tuchel said: "We play against one of the strongest teams in the world which are in outstanding form given their results. So it will be a tough one and we will try to make life hard for them."
The Reds are on for a potential quadruple and have already broken the record for goals scored in one season, with 139 so far. Should they continue that, they could be a force to be reckoned with.
Mane is one player in a particular hot streak, having broken Drogba’s Champions League knockout goal record for an African player with his 15th in the competition on Tuesday. Former Chelsea star Mohamed Salah trails closely behind on 11 goals, while yet another ex-Chelsea player in Samuel Eto'o is on 10.
Tuchel and his Chelsea side will certainly be hoping they will have cooled down on the goal scoring by the time they meet at Wembley again.
