Behrang Safari claims the Serb’s arm left him with a bloody mouth
Quite a lot happened to derail Liverpool’s Champions League campaign last night but perhaps the most telling of all was the red card received by Lazar Markovic in the second half of last night’s must win match against Basel.
Trailing 1-0, Markovic’s arrival at half-time injected much-needed life into a moribund Liverpool attack and they were putting the Swiss side under pressure when an ill-advised flailing arm by the winger wafted in the direction of Behrang Safari. The Basel player went down clutching his face and Markovic was given the line, a decision that many thought was very harsh indeed.
Liverpool battled on gamely, and equalised, but ultimately the draw sent Liverpool into the netherworld of the Europa League.
Anyway, Swedish newspaper Sportbladet caught up with Safari, a Swedish international, to get his side of the story and the Guardian have translated the quotes.
“I wouldn’t have gone to ground if he hadn’t hit me,” he said. “I am not the kind of player who dives.
“It was a bit strange, I didn’t realise that it was a red card at first. I thought the referee had blown his whistle because it was a head injury and I thought I was going to give the ball to the Liverpool players afterwards. But then I noticed that the Liverpool players were angry with me.”
When pressed on the level of contact he said: “Yes, yes of course. I was bleeding from my mouth.”
