Is he messing?

There is a billboard in Dakar emblazoned with #WeLoveSadio, followed by the words ‘De tout coeur derrière notre Lion’ - wholeheartedly behind our lion.

In Senegal’s capital, a near 500-mile journey north of the birthplace of Liverpool’s match-winner against Bayern Munich, and the area where his desire to be a professional footballer was cemented from the age of 15, time seemed to momentarily freeze on Wednesday night.

With Rafinha so easily and emphatically shrugged off by Mane’s speed and strength as the forward controlled a long, floated Virgil van Dijk delivery, the city fell silent for a few seconds.

“Everyone was on their feet and it was quiet,” says Pape Dia, whose eyes were transfixed on the giant projectors at Le Korbi. “We knew he was going to score. We didn’t care that he still had so much to do, we knew. He is our Sadio Mane and our Sadio Mane can do these things.”

The silence was not on account of anxiousness, but expectation and appreciation. The moments that followed were pure artistry, a melding of wonder and will. Mane swivelled away from Manuel Neuer with such ruthlessness that obituaries for the German’s status as one of the world’s best in his position were being bashed into keyboards far and wide.

The nonchalant manner in which Liverpool’s No.10 clipped his finish into the far post, dissecting Rafinha and Niklas Sule and beating Mats Hummels to nestle in that bottom corner, was breathtaking.

Just as those watching in Dakar had the conviction he would score, so too did the Senegal international.

This is Sadio Mane and Sadio Mane can do these things.

Inside the Allianz Arena, the flight of the ball towards goal seemed to occur in slow motion before delirium coloured the away end.

“Is he messing, lad? He is absolutely messing!”

The consensus amongst the home supporters, meanwhile, was a simple Scheiße!

James Milner called Mane’s opener “very naughty”, adding: “The way he took it was ridiculous. That's the quality he's got.”