13 April 2023 , 13:00
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Sadio Mane was grieving the death of a close family member when he attacked Bayern Munich team-mate Leroy Sane after his team’s Champions League thrashing at Manchester City.
Mane has been fined by Bayern for punching former City winger Sane in the mouth during a dressing room row following the 3-0 quarter-final first-leg defeat on Tuesday night.
Reports in Germany claim that the 31-year-old former Liverpool forward could still be sacked for leaving Sane with a cut lip or that the Bundesliga giants may look to sell him in the summer less than a year after paying the Mersesyiders £35 million. He still has just over two years left on the £250,000-a-week contract he signed last summer.
But Bayern bosses are aware that Mane is in mourning following the death of his aunt in Senegal last weekend.
The two-time African Footballer of the Year is very protective of his family. Mane’s father died when he was just 11 years old and the rest of the family rallied round to help his mother raise her family despite a lack of money.
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The winger has supported them financially throughout his career and has built a mansion for them in his hometown of Bambali. Mane has also financed the construction of a hospital and school in the town and even gives families a monthly grant to help them escape poverty.
Sane and Mane had a disagreement on the field before the dressing room bust-up (Getty Images)
Both players were in training on Thursday morning (Sven Hoppe/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel picked Mane and Sane to train together in the same small group when he put his Bayern players through their paces this morning.
The former Metz, RB Salzburg and Southampton forward has struggled during his first season in Germany and had fallen out of favour with Julian Nageslmann before Bayern replaced him with Tuchel earlier this month.
Mane has started just one of the three games Tuchel has taken charge of and failed to make an impact after being introduced as a late substitute in Manchester.
Liverpool have struggled to cope with Mane’s departure this season after he played a key role in a team that won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup during his six years at Anfield.