It says much about the dizzying football Liverpool played last season that despite having enjoyed one of the finest campaigns of his career, Sadio Mane was overshadowed.
His first season at Anfield, in 2016-17, was an unqualified success, with a haul of 13 goals in all competitions and a string of eye-catching performances that earned him Liverpool's Player of the Season award and a spot in the PFA Team of the Year.
Last season, he found the net 20 times—including a tally of 10 in the Champions League that put him above Neymar, Lionel Messi and Harry Kane—yet with Roberto Firmino scoring 27 goals and Mohamed Salah an astonishing 44, the lightning-fast Senegalese forward played not just second fiddle but third.