Jurgen Klopp slammed referee Felix Brych after Liverpool’s defeat to Real Madrid, suggesting the official had “something personal” against Sadio Mane.
Klopp was furious after Brych failed to award a foul when the player tangled with Real Madrid defender Lucas Vazquez, shortly before their second goal in their 3-1 win.
And while the Liverpool manager conceded that the officials were not the reason for Liverpool’s loss, he used his post-match press conference to explain what he said to the referee at the final whistle.
Klopp told reporters: “The situation with Sadio, I have to say what the referee did tonight I don’t understand. For me that was something personal, because he dealt with the situation with Sadio, which is a clear foul, like it was a dive or something.
“And from that moment whenever Sadio went down, he couldn’t get anything anymore. That’s just not right. “That’s what I told him after the game, that I just thought he was unfair with Sadio, and that’s how it is.
“It doesn’t change anything at all. He didn’t lose the game, we were not good enough, but in these moments you need just an OK ref. That would have been enough.”
Liverpool were left to rue a poor first-half display in Madrid, in which they conceded cheap goals to Vinicus Junior and Asensio.
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Mohamed Salah pulled one back in the second half, a priceless away goal for Liverpool, but their task was made even harder when Alisson Becker fumbled Vinicius’ shot into the net.
Assessing the game, Klopp said: “First and foremost, we didn’t deserve to win tonight, to be honest. We didn’t play good enough for that. That’s my first concern. Especially in the first half, we didn’t play good enough football.
“We conceded the first goal, then served the second goal on a plate. But that was not the real problem of the game. We did better in the second half, played better football, tried to create against a really passionate and deep-defending Real Madrid side, with the counter-attacking threat they have.
“We scored a goal, which is obviously the positive of the night. Did we deserve more than the 3-1? I’m not sure to be honest.”
