Sadio Mane posts a heartfelt message on Instagram after meeting the 30-year-old Liverpool star last night

Sadio Mane says it was good to see Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker again after last night’s match between Brazil and Senegal.

Mane was in good form for country him, scoring two goals in an upset 4-2 win. Alisson, meanwhile, watched from the bench, favoring Manchester City’s Ederson. If he had played goalkeeper for the Reds maybe it would have been another story. Mane did however have a remarkable goalscoring record against Ederson at City. However, there was no bad blood from Alisson after the match. He and Mane spent four years together at Anfield, collecting winners’ medals in every possible competition.

Their delight at the meeting was evident, with Reds goalkeeping coach Claudio Taffarel posting an Instagram photo of him, Mane and Alisson all together full-time. “Friends,” wrote Taffarel.

Later, Mane used his Instagram Stories to repost the photo with a message from him. “It was nice to meet these two legends,” the 31-year-old wrote alongside two “heart” emojis. Taffarel is of course a legend in his own right, but there are actually two Liverpool legends in this photo. Nice to see Sadio smiling again.

Mane and Alisson are getting back together

Anyone hoping that Mane will return to Anfield in the near future will surely be disappointed this summer and beyond. Although he struggled at Bayern Munich, there doesn’t seem to be a chance for him to return to Liverpool. No, the story of our former number 10 with the Reds is written. And what a story it was.

Alisson has clearly been a big part of that story, with the goalkeeper having been equally important to any successes Liverpool have had since his arrival.

Alongside Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Virgil van Dijk, these two will live on as the true symbols of the Jürgen Klopp era at Liverpool. Or at least the first part. That’s why it’s really nice to see them together again.

As we prepare to lose Firmino, we are getting used to seeing these modern-day Anfield greats go.

This should rekindle the focus on actually appreciating these types of players while they’re still around. No one is suggesting that the likes of Alisson, Van Dijk and Salah aren’t celebrated enough, they certainly are.

But with all of them reaching their 30s, the feeling that a glorious era at Liverpool is over is hard to shake. There was a time when these players were together every day for years. With Bobby set to play elsewhere with Mane next season, it will be rarer – and more special – to see them meet.