Sadio Mane returns to Red Bull Salzburg with his place as one of world football's elite well and truly established, but things could have turned out differently for him.
The Liverpool forward finished fourth in last week's voting for the 2019 Ballon d'Or, missing out on a spot on the podium to Lionel Messi, his Reds teammate Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo .
Many, including Messi , felt that the Senegalese should be higher than that, but individual awards will be far from his mind as he takes on Salzburg on Tuesday.
The Reds need to avoid defeat if they are to make it through to the last-16 of the Champions League, something that it would be unthinkable not to achieve following on from lifting the trophy last season.
Mane will return to the team having been rested for the weekend win at Bournemouth , but if Jurgen Klopp had gone through with a move for him back in his Dortmund days then he could still be lining up for the Bundesliga side now.
It is well-known that the Liverpool boss strongly considered signing Mane from Salzburg towards the end of his tenure at Dortmund, but after failing to complete the move Mane moved on to Southampton .
Two years there were enough to convince Klopp of his qualities, and he signed Mane for the Reds in his first summer as Reds boss in 2016.
When asked if he'd made a mistake in not signing Mane back then, Klopp told his press conference in Salzburg: "No it was simply a wrong evaluation of my side.
"I thought at that time that it was a lot of pressure on Dortmund and this transfer it had to be right.
"It is not the only wrong decision I have made, this one I could correct some years later."
Mane will be a key figure in a game Liverpool can't afford to lose, and his captain Jordan Henderson has played tribute to his form ahead of the game.
"It’s amazing, Sadio has been outstanding for a long period of time now," he said..
"He just needs to continue that form. He’s a fantastic person off the pitch, he dedicates his life to football."
