PIC: Mario Balotelli leaps to the defence of Jerome Boateng after the German’s tough week

Well maybe "leap" is a bit of an exaggeration. "He jogs idly to the defence of Jerome Boateng," would suit Balotelli better.

The Liverpool "striker" has taken to Instagram to defend Jerome Boateng, whom he played with at Manchester City, after the Bayern Munich defender came in for lorryloads of online trolling when he was left embarassed by Lionel Messi midweek. With memes like this visible all over the wonderful internet, you could forgive the German international for feeling a little bit down in the dumps.

Vielleicht ist #WrestleMania eher was für @JB17Official - demnächst mit #TimWiese pic.twitter.com/IzoMcLWvm7 — Thor J. Sten (@holtzinho10) May 6, 2015

And like the spoilsport who reminds the teacher that he has forgotten to give homework, Mario Balotelli had to get all serious and defend Boateng. https://instagram.com/p/2f6Pf4rj9a/?taken-by=mb459 Chill out Balo, we were only having a bit of a laugh.