James Milner has hit out Joris Gnagnon's "disgraceful" tackle that ended Yasser Larouci's night early in the 2-1 defeat to Sevilla on Sunday evening.
The Reds slipped to their second successive defeat on their three-game tour of the United States, but the result was overshadowed by an ugly incident that saw Sevilla man Gnagnon lash out at Larouci who was on the attack for the Reds.
The wild kick earned him a straight red card and saw the 18-year-old Larouci leave the pitch on a stretcher in the second half.
at full time and Milner was critical of the shocking tackle after what was a tempestuous affair at Fenway Park.
"Was it too much? I thought so yes, it was a disgraceful tackle," he told LFCTV at full time.
"We know it's only a friendly, but I mean, you don't see many red cards in friendlies, do you.
"Their guy said it is down to the referee and it's a tackle and a foul, but it's very disappointing. We [responded] in the right way.
"It is a tough one for the referee because you don't want to use red cards in a lot in friendlies and it is a a rare thing to see.
"It's not easy to get hold of the game, you don't normally see too many tackles [like Gnagnon's] but it is a disgrace really."
Another defeat for the European champions is being viewed positively from the veteran midfielder, who believes setbacks in pre-season will ensure complacency doesn't creep in when the real action gets underway next month.
"It can be a good thing," he added. "Obviously, coming off the back of the success means sometimes it's easy to get complacent.
"I am not saying we are that, but we have had lot of young players in the team and we're finding out how were playing with each other.
"We know how high our standards are but it's early days. It's all money in the bank and it will be a piece of cake when we get it to one game a week when it starts."
