Sadio Mane was maybe only inches from the Ballon d’Or; the inside of the Paris post, which his shot struck in the Champions League final; the fingertips of Thibaut Courtois, tipping a goalbound effort on to the woodwork. Inches from immortality, perhaps, from being only the second African to become officially the best player in the world. And if it is not certain he would have topped the poll, the eventual runaway winner Karim Benzema was propelled to pre-eminence by Champions League glory in a year when the poll took place before the World Cup.
As it was, Mane was named the second-finest player on the planet in 2022. He finished the 2022-23 campaign as perhaps 16th in line at Bayern Munich: 15 others took the field in the win at Koln that clinched the Bundesliga, with the teenager Mathys Tel and veteran Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting summoned from the bench while Mane remained an unused substitute. He had been the fifth substitute used the previous week, sent on with four minutes to go in defeat to RB Leipzig.
