LIVERPOOL, England -- Sadio Mane has said he urged Roberto Firmino to play against Paris Saint-Germain, and told the Brazilian he "doesn't need his eye" to star for Liverpool.
Firmino overcame an abrasion of the eye to come off the substitutes' bench and score a dramatic stoppage-time winner in Liverpool's 3-2 victory in their Champions League opener on Tuesday night.
The 26-year-old was a major doubt for the PSG game and missed training the day before. But Mane has revealed he was continually trying to convince his forward partner to feature.
"I think Bobby doesn't need his eye to play so I told him," Mane said to reporters. "I sent him a message on Monday saying: 'Hey Bobby, come on, we need you.'
"You've all seen the 'no look' goals so I think he doesn't need his eye to play. I texted him saying: 'You don't need your eye!'"
Liverpool took a two-nil lead at Anfield courtesy of goals from Daniel Sturridge and James Milner. Thomas Meunier then clawed one back for PSG close to half-time before Kylian Mbappe equalised in the 83rd minute -- but Firmino struck on 92 minutes to make it six wins out of six for Liverpool this season.
"I think it's a big result honestly," Mane said. "It is very important for us to keep going on our good run. It was not an easy game because PSG are one of the best teams in the world but we played very well and deserved to win.
"I think it is about desire and belief, it is what we try to do. We have quality in the team and I think it is mentally free to go forward and believe it until the end.
"It is what we tried and finally we scored the third goal, which was very important for the team."
With Firmino a major doubt for the game because of the injury he picked in the weekend's win over Tottenham Hotspur, Sturridge came into the side to make his first ever Champions League start for Liverpool, scoring and then received a standing ovation when he was substituted off.
"I think this year we're confident as a team. The squad is so strong as a unit," Joe Gomez told reporters. "With Bobby obviously struggling, Studge comes in and scores for us.
"It shows we have so much quality. Obviously it's big for us to compete against teams like that. But we see ourselves at that level. We have to. Although we see ourselves [there], we have to keep making the point. And that's what we've done by beating both of them [PSG and Spurs].
"We've got a tough few games coming up -- Chelsea, who have a 100 percent record, and Southampton at the weekend. No game is easy. We have to keep going."
Meanwhile, Virgil van Dijk says Liverpool have the mindset of winning "everything" on offer this season after their flawless start.
Liverpool have opened their league season with five straight victories for the first time in 28 years in addition to Tuesday's win over the French champions.
And the defender believes there has been no hangover from the defeat to Real Madrid in the European Cup final back in May and that there is real hunger within the squad to end the club's six-year wait for a trophy.
"Everyone is excited, everyone is feeling good, everyone wanted to be part of this," Van Dijk told reporters.
"And you know, we know the season is very long, we have four competitions to play in. We want to win everything. That is basically our mindset, otherwise, you'd better stop. "You need to have ambitions, and with the size of this club, with the people around here and the history of the club, we want to try and win everything.
"It's going to be hard, it's going to be something very difficult to do, but you know we are going to just try it.
"If you are gonna be on the pitch and don't believe it then you'd better stay home. You need to have belief, you need to have belief in everyone in your team and I've all the belief that's there in this team.
"I'm enjoying every single bit of it. If you look at the team we have, if you look at the the whole squad, players who are not even in the squad who have so much potential and so much quality, it says a lot about our team. "Obviously in the end it is about hard work, making sure everyone is there for each other and I think it started for us in the preseason.
"Hopefully we can keep on going. We've had a good start. There will be a day when we have downs as well, but then it is how we react -- and I am not worried about anything."
Liverpool are looking to make it six Premier League wins out six when Southampton, Van Dijk's former side, arrive at Anfield on Saturday.
Jurgen Klopp's team then face Chelsea in back-to-back fixtures before travelling to Napoli for their second Group C match ahead of an encounter with champions Manchester City.
"We can't get ahead of ourselves," Van Dijk warned. "We have to stay both feet on the ground and keep working hard and be humble because, look, Saturday [is] a very tough game [with] Southampton, then midweek Chelsea [and] again, then Man City, then I have Germany and Belgium with Holland.
"So keep on going, every week is a new preparation, every three days now. It is the only way forward."