Irked With Atletico Madrid’s Antics, Klopp Explains Why He Substituted Mane In Liverpool’s 1-0 Loss

Jurgen Klopp explained why he subbed off star forward Sadio Mane in Liverpool’s 1-0 loss to Atletico Madrid in their Champions League Round of 16 clash Tuesday.

Mane, who has been influential with his performances for The Reds, was given a yellow card in the first half for catching Atletico defender Sime Vrsaljko with a swinging but accidental arm. Klopp accused Diego Simeone’s players of targeting Mane as he said that Atletico’s plan was to get Mane out with a second yellow and which is why he substituted Mane at half-time.

Moments after Mane received the yellow card, Atletico players encircled the referee asking for a second yellow card for The Reds player. That confirmed that it was a part of Atletico’s plan to get rid of Mane as the incident was pretty harmless and there was no way it could have been declared as a foul.

Mane, who was replaced by Divock Origi, was sorely missed as Liverpool failed to have a single shot at the target. Atletico, who scored in the fourth minute, sealed the first leg of last-16 with a 1-0 win.

Speaking at a post-match interview, Liverpool boss Klopp admitted that whatever Atletico did with Mane was a “part of soccer and I don’t like it.”

“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,” Klopp added.

In the match, Liverpool skipper Jordon Henderson suffered a hamstring injury and was subbed off too. The severity of the injury will be assessed on their return to Merseyside.

Speaking further about his side’s performance Tuesday at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, Klopp admitted that his players could have done better but at the same time, he was satisfied with the way they pressed against the opponents.

“Yes, there were things we could have done better and things that could have made our life easier. Atlético very obviously were here to squeeze a result out of this game and against that our pressing was exceptional, our buildup was outstanding, our counter-press was exceptional,” Klopp added further in the interview.

The return leg of Liverpool and Atletico Madrid’s Round of 16 will be played at Anfield on March 12.