Jurgen Klopp reacts to Sadio Mane display in Liverpool win

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Jurgen Klopp has used one word in his interview with BT Sport to sum up the performance of Sadio Mane as Liverpool beat Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The Reds booked their spot in the knockout stages with their fourth victory of the group. The result leaves Liverpool seven points clear with just two games remaining.

Mane was one of those to get on the scoresheet at Anfield. The forward turned in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s ball to double the lead after Diogo Jota had broken the deadlock.

It was an interesting night for Mane. He was booked after 15 minutes. And it seemed that Atletico’s players were determined to try and get the Senegal international sent off.

Ultimately, Klopp decided to replace Mane at the break. And he admitted after the game that he did not like the decision but felt that he had no choice but to make the change.

“[The referee] was [in control] but I really hate the moment when I had to take off Sadio, because Sadio played an incredible game,” he told BT Sport.

“My worry was if there was any kind of challenge in the air where you never know exactly what happens there, if one of them goes down and rolls over three times, then Sadio is off.”

Sensible Mane decision comes back to haunt Liverpool

You can certainly understand Klopp’s thinking. Liverpool were cruising to victory. And they did not need to risk losing someone unnecessarily.

Having said that, the change did come at a cost for the Reds. Roberto Firmino was brought on for the 29-year-old.

Unfortunately, Firmino himself had to come off with an injury with 12 minutes remaining.

Hopefully, the Brazilian’s injury is not too serious. He has produced some outstanding displays of late.

Obviously, Klopp could not have foreseen that Firmino would sustain a problem. And he was right to keep the team strong given the fightback Atletico produced in Spain.

But the knock to Firmino will increase the frustration surrounding the decision to take Mane off when he was playing incredibly.