Klopp explains Mane & Salah substitution, says Madrid tie far from over

Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp believes the Champions League – Round of 16 tie against Atletico Madrid is far from over after his team went down 1-0 in the first leg played on Tuesday at Estadio Metropolitano.

Saul Niguez tapped in a loose ball to score the solitary goal in the fourth minute after the visitors had failed to clear out a corner-kick.

The Reds, on their part, had 73 per cent of possession in the encounter but were unable to find a way through the spirited Atletico rearguard.

Speaking in his post match presser, Klopp said: “I have no problem with the result. If you are 1-0 down at half-time in a normal game, you would say, ‘OK, we change this and this and that’ and then we would give it a try. We will give it a try – 100 per cent – in the next game as well.

“I saw so many happy faces tonight from Atletico and all that stuff, I get that because it is a big win but it is not over yet and that’s the only thing I feel.”

The gaffer also explained the reason behind the substitution of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah in the second half.

“Obviously, the plan tonight was get Sadio out of the game with a yellow card.

“I was afraid his opponent would go down now even if Sadio takes a deep breath or whatever and I didn’t want to have that situation, so that’s why we took him off.

“Mo was just a tactical change, that’s all. We wanted to change a little bit and that’s what we did,” he added.

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