'The game is too big in Africa' - Klopp discloses he benched Mane and Salah for Senegal/Egypt cracker

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has disclosed why he chose not to play Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane in Sunday's FA Cup quarterfinal fixture against Nottingham Forest.

The German tactician revealed that Mohamed Salah was carrying a knock in his foot and thus, he could not risk the Egyptian playing the game against Forest.

Interestingly, Klopp further revealed that he chose to not play Sadio Mane to not give Egypt an unfair advantage over Mane's Senegal when they meet later this week.

In his post-match press comments, Klopp confirmed his intentions for leaving his two biggest forwards on the bench.

Klopp said: "Mo felt the foot again from the Brighton game. [It's] not massive, but it was clear that you would not be in a game like this if you have a little bit of pain here, or there. There is no chance."

The former Borussia Dortmund coach also stated that he took the decision so he would not be misunderstood concerning African football. 

"In that moment it was clear that we will not use Sadio for the game because the game is too big in Africa," Klopp continued.

"I don't want to be twice the one who is doing things like that, which could be misunderstood. The others were all unavailable. Mo was unavailable, only Sadio we left out.”

Senegal and Egypt will face each other in an all-important two-legged World Cup Qualifier for a place at the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Salah and Mane are the talismans for their respective countries, carrying the attacking impetus for Egypt and Senegal respectively as they do at Liverpool.