A number of Liverpool fans gathered on the Twittersphere to express their concern at the refereeing of the Reds’ Champions League meeting with Atletico Madrid.
Supporters commented on The Athletic reporter, James Pearce’s, tweet questioning the leniency of the officiating when it came to challenges issued against Sadio Mane.
Not sure what Mane has done to upset this ref but kicking him seems to be allowed tonight.
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) October 19, 2021
The Senegalese has been subjected to some meaty challenges in the opening 45 minutes of play in the European encounter.
Given how we’ve already seen one player ruled out for the long-term with a serious injury domestically, we’re hoping to see more protection for Mane in the remainder of our Champions League clash.
With the score level at the time of writing, however, we could do with seeing some more physicality from our midfield trio, with Diego Simeone’s men finding it too simple to bypass the middle of the park.
Should we managed to solidify our holding of the halfway line, of course, we’d back the club to get back in control of the tie and fight for a lion’s share of the points.
You can catch some of the fan reaction below:
That challenge was two feet off the ground studs up. If he even scraped Mane, he should have been off. Mane will be lucky to finish this game, sent off or injured…
— Kevin (@Kevthemook) October 19, 2021
No protection to Mane whatsoever
— A.B. (@TheBurrow) October 19, 2021
He never gets anything!
— Boss (@15Shazzer) October 19, 2021
Nothing new 😠
— supermane10 (@supermanelfc) October 19, 2021