Senegal coach Aliou Cisse has finally waded into the news of the altercation between Bayern Munich teammates Sadio Mane and Leroy Sane.
Mane reportedly hit Sane on his lip after the German champions suffered a crushing first-leg quarter-final defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad.
The African Player of the Year has been suspended by Bayern Munich and will miss the Bundesliga game against TSG Hoffenheim on Saturday.
While the issue has been watered down, Cisse is surprised how a dressing room incident was leaked to the public.
“This is dressing room stuff. I don’t want to make a big deal out of it. In fact, what happened shouldn’t even have come out of the dressing room. They say dressing rooms have secrets. Things that happen there must stay there,” he said, as quoted by wiwsport.com.
“I believe in this Bayern team. Everyone knows everyone and their mentality. But they all have to pull together because it’s in Sadio Mané’s interest for Leroy to be with him – and it’s in Leroy’s interest for Sadio to be with him. I think they will move on from this,” he added.
The former Senegal captain also admitted that Mane is yet to hit top form after staying out for almost five months with an injury.
“What’s important now is the health of Sadio Mané, his performances with Bayern but also with Senegal. I believe he’s on the right track. Let’s not forget he went 5 months without playing. For a high-level athlete, if you stay 10 days without playing, you feel it,” Cisse continued.
“He had a good preparation. Now, it’s through playing matches that he will regain confidence and explosiveness too – because that’s what he’s missing right now. He has to play games, I hope he’ll do that at Bayern.”
Bayern Munich are yet to disclose the length of Mane’s suspension.
