Jurgen Klopp has told referee Felix Brych he was “unfair” on Sadio Mane during Liverpool’s Champions League defeat to Real Madrid.
The Reds face an uphill task in next week’s quarter-final second leg at Anfield after falling to a 3-1 defeat in the Spanish capital on Tuesday evening.
Real’s second goal through Marco Asensio came barely 30 seconds after Mane had seemingly been brought down by Lucas Vazquez when racing on to a ball over the top.
Referee Brych waved play on with VAR determining they did not believe the Real right-back had committed a red-card offence, with an unhappy Klopp seeking out the German official after the match.
“The situation with Sadio, I have to say what the ref did tonight I don’t understand,” said the Reds boss. “For me, there was something personal.
“He dealt with situation from Sadio, which is a clear foul, like it was a dive (by Mane) or whatever.
“From that moment on, whenever Sadio went down he didn’t get anything any more.
“It’s just not right. That’s what I told him (the referee) after the game, that I just thought he was unfair with Sadio. That’s how it is.
“But that doesn’t change anything at all. He didn’t lose us the game, we were not good enough to get a better result.
“But in these moments obviously you need just an okay ref. That would have been enough.”
