Klopp hates having to replace Mane at Liverpool vs Atletico

DBasia.news – Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp admits he hates having to replace Sadio Mane against Atletico Madrid. However, circumstances has forced Klopp to take this strategy.

Liverpool meet Atletico on matchday 4 of Group B of the 2021-2022 Champions League, at Anfield Stadium, Thursday (4/11). The Reds opened the scoring in the 13th minute through Diogo Jota. Then, eight minutes later, Sadio Mane listed his name on the scoreboard.

Atletico, who tried to chase victory, had to play with 10 players after Felipe received a red card. The defender committed a foul on Sadio Mane.

Surprisingly, although Mane played quite well, Klopp decided to replace him early in the second half with Roberto Firmino. Apparently, Klopp did not want Mane to receive a red card as he already pocketed a yellow card.

“I think everyone in the stadium was hoping they would try and get Sadio Mane sent off,” Klopp said as reported by the Liverpool Echo.

“I think it was the right thing to take him off. I hate him more than you can imagine because Mane played amazingly.”

“I’m not worried about Mane not being able to contain his emotions. Mane is very calm. But the problem is, if the ball is in the air, Mane tries to get it and another player falls.”

“We’ve all seen what some of the Atletico players did in falling just to equalize the number of players,” he stated.

With this victory, Liverpool ensured themselves to advance to the next round. Currently, the Reds have collected perfect points from four matches. Second place, Porto, has collected five points.