Liverpool: Robertson and Van Dijk react to Atletico Madrid loss
Jurgen Klopp has revealed he sat down with Sadio Mane to speak about his decision to sub the forward at half-time of their Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid. Many feared that Mane had picked up a problem when he was withdrawn from proceedings at half-time, but Klopp decided the substitution was necessary.
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Atletico Madrid are known for being the masters of gamesmanship and they were keen to play on that after they scored an early opener from Saul Niguez.
Their defensive solidarity was clearly getting under the skin of Liverpool too, who usually have no problem breaking down teams.
Speaking after the game at the Wanda Metropolitano, Klopp made it clear that he was unhappy with the way the Atletico players were trying to get Mane sent off.
“It is obviously a part of football that I don’t like,” said Klopp.
Liverpool star Sadio Mane was booked and risked being sent off against Atletico (Image: GETTY)
“The plan tonight was to get Sadio out of the game with a second yellow card.
“I was afraid that Sadio’s opponent would go down if he took a deep breath on him or something.
“I don’t want to have this situation and that is why I took him off.”