Jurgen Klopp confirmed the decision to bring Naby Keita off in the first half of the 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid was for tactical reasons.
The Guinea international was a somewhat surprise inclusion for the game in Madrid as he made his just his second start of the calendar year.
However, as the Reds struggled to get to grips with the 13-time Champions League winners at the Di Stefano Stadium, Klopp substituted Keita for Thiago Alcantara on the cusp of half time.
Klopp later confirmed the midfielder was not injured and the decision to take him out of the team was purely down to how the side were struggling.
"Yes, it was tactical, it was tactical," Klopp said.
"And this is one of the things you don't like to do in the job.
"It's like the one player is responsible for the performance of the first half. Naby was not responsible for that.
"He didn't play for a while, especially not from the start, we were not good in the game, Naby was not good in the game but if we all saw the game and I am honest, I could have made a few more changes to be honest.
"So it was not about Naby, but I did it and I am now not happy about it because we talk about it like it is all Naby's responsibility, it is not.
"But it was tactical, that is it."
Liverpool reduced the deficit via Mohamed Salah in the second half after Vinicius Junior and Marco Asensio had given los Blancos the lead.
However, Vinicius made it 3-1 to leave the Reds with an uphill battle at Anfield on April 14.
