Sadio Mane admits he could've been preparing to FACE Liverpool next week.

The Reds are to meet Bayern Munich in the first-leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie.

And Mane admits Bayern were interested in signing him early in his career.

"In January 2014 we (RB Salzburg) had a training match against Bayern in Salzburg, the coach was still Pep Guardiola and we surprised them with our gameplay," he told Bild.

"My adviser Björn Bezemer later informed me that there was contact with Bavaria after the match, but I do not think they were really interested."