But as the wild celebrations were unfolding inside Anfield, the Atletico manager found himself face-to-face with a Liverpool supporter. The reason for Simeone flying off the rails isn’t exactly known, but plenty of Liverpool fans could be seen goading the Argentine tactician.
The referee was quick to head over to the touchline, before brandishing Simeone a red card. He had already been booked earlier in the contest for mouthing off to the referee after disagreeing with one of the official’s decisions.
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Simeone admitted after the match that he ought to have controlled himself better, but ex-Liverpool ace Steve McManaman believes the eccentric manager has every right to “give as good as he gets.” During TNT Sport’s post-match analysis, he explained: “I don’t mind it to be honest, it was highly charged at the end.
“He gives as good as he gets and that’s why people really like him around the world. He’s very passionate, he sticks up for his side. With the Liverpool fans, I don’t know if they’ve said anything, but he doesn’t speak English anyway, the Scouse accent is even worse so he’s done well to understand that.”
Regardless, it marks another impressive winner for Liverpool, who have scored late in all five matches this season. On the character of his team-mates, Van Dijk told TNT Sports: “We try, we kept pushing for the 3-1. We concede the equaliser, massively deflected. It was not great. We found a way again. We were dangerous in our set-pieces anyway, they were pretty aggressive I must say. I’m glad I got the winner.
“They’re a team that never gives up, they have quality players that can punish you if you’re not there in a split second, if you’re a little bit too late and they punished us before the break and after the break we try to go for the 3-1. They get a bit of confidence from that as well. But we have to keep going and show the resilience we’ve been showing for many years and it was another great European night here again.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk