Thursday 3 May 2018 11:40, UK
Sadio Mane believes Liverpool are capable of beating "any team in the world" after they reached the Champions League final.
The winger scored the opening goal of their 4-2 semi-final second-leg defeat to Roma in the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday which saw the Reds progress 7-6 on aggregate.
Mane and the rest of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool squad will now travel to Kiev for the showpiece meeting with holders Real Madrid on May 26 and admits it is impossible to avoid looking ahead to the match-up.
"If you have Real to face you have to think about them - they are one of the best teams in the world," Mane said.
"We are Liverpool, we are strong and we can beat any team in the world. We are going to do our best to go and win the final."
Liverpool are on course to secure qualification for Europe's top cup competition for the second season running and know a victory over Chelsea on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Premier League, would assure it before the final weekend of the season and Mane knows they have to remain focused on the immediate task at hand.
"I think it will be a little early to speak about the final because we have two more important games in the season," he added.
"Chelsea and next week Brighton - we have to win them to stay in the top four."
Mane describes Liverpool boss Klopp, into his second Champions League final, as the "best manager" while his teammate Virgil van Dijk admits the position the club are in at this stage of the campaign is something he could only have wished for when he joined from Southampton in January.
"It is something you hope for. You can't look ahead to far, you hope to settle in as quickly as possible," Van Dijk said.
"To be in the Champions League final and to be up for the top four is very good for us."
Real Madrid are seeking a third consecutive triumph in the Champions League, and a fourth title from the last five editions, which means the La Liga side are the "favourites" for the final, according to Andy Robertson.
"Real Madrid have dominated this tournament for the last couple of years especially, have manged to get their hands on the trophy and will be favourites - probably rightly so," Robertson said.
"No doubt bookies and punters will put them as favourites but we have been underdogs before and we can be quite dangerous at that.
"There's only two [teams] left in the tournament so we believe we can go on and win it. Hopefully it turns out that way."
