Mane Dismisses Real Madrid Links Ahead of Champions League Final

By Joshua Walters

Liverpool forward Sadio Mane has trivialised continuous speculations linking him to Real Madrid as he insists he is happy to play for the Reds who ‘beat big teams’.

Reports in the domain are that, Mane is one of the targets for the White Angels as part of Zinedine Zidane's rebuilding project at the Bernabeu.

Despite the links, Mane, who finished the season as the Premier League's joint-top scorer is much focused on Saturday’s all-English Champions League final in Madrid.

"Always this is part of football, so we have to deal with it, but for me the most important thing is Liverpool and I'm happy here," he said of the speculation.

"It's always a pleasure that this kind of team wants (you) but don't forget Liverpool. They beat big teams.

"I'm preparing for one of the biggest games for the club and the fans and the players as well, so let's focus on this one first and win it.

"We know we have targets; we want to win the league and the Champions League. We didn't win the league but we still have one trophy to play for, so we are going to try to give everything to win it," Mane added.

"We would love to win it (the league) but we have to take it as a positive. It will give us more motivation and even the fans as well. So let's do it together and win this trophy.

"I think it's just incredible and I'm so positive. Of course, it (last season's final) will help with this one because we wanted to win it and it was not the case. That's part of football.

"At the same time, I think it's positive because many people, even you (the media), didn't expect us to play this final.

"We did it (and) I think we learned a lot from this and now we can use our experience this season to get what we want."