Liverpool 's latest friendly in United States ended in controversy and acrimony

Larouci, an Algerian who has caught the eye recently, left the pitch on a stretcher after tackle

Sevilla are not a team for whom Liverpool have great affection. They lost to the Spaniards in the 2016 Europa League final, while two meetings in the Champions League in 2017 saw Liverpool held to draws, home and away, after collapsing defensively.

Safe to say this latest meeting did nothing to restore relations. The behaviour of some Sevilla players was disgraceful and it was a surprise that they only had one man sent-off. Joris Gnagnon, the French defender, received a red card for kicking 18-year-old full back Yasser Larouci off his feet.

Larouci, an Algerian who has caught the eye these past few weeks, left the pitch on a stretcher. It stemmed from Sevilla being unhappy that Liverpool had not put the ball out when one of their own players was on the floor

'Harry got a knock on his cheekbone and his eye so not too cool. He should be ok as well. That is the situation. I would love to you to write a story about this game without my headlines. Whatever I say about it will be the headlines. We can talk about (our) football, which was not too good.

'We could have done it much better. These things in general I don't like overly hard games. The challenge is there to win the ball that's the only reason. There are rules. I don't want to say anything specific about this game because there will be headlines of 'Jurgen Klopp…' Then go for it.

'I want to make a holiday in Spain again. He hit him full throttle. There are more important games in our history and hopefully our future but I don't want to give the impression that we lose and I only talk about the hard challenges. Write about this how you want.'

Remarkably, Sevilla head coach Julen Lopetegui said he did not see the flashpoint but did explain that Gnagnon was contrite when returning to the dressing room; that point was proven when Gnagnon took to social media to express his remorse.

'I would like to apologise publicly to the player and to Liverpool,' said Gnagnon, whose message was followed by a more general one from Sevilla's official account. 'The foul was an odious act the likes of which should never be seen on a football pitch. My prayers go to the player and to his family.'

Milner added: 'There were some disgraceful tackles, we know it was a friendly but you don't see many red cards in a friendly.

'They said we should have put it out but it is up to the referee. If you want to foul, pull a shirt. Don't take a young lad by the knee. Seeing it again it is a disgrace.'

There was another worrying incident, however, when Argentine midfielder Ever Banega smashed Harry Wilson in the face in the first half. Jurgen Klopp, not surprisingly, was furious.

It was clear that Klopp was enraged by what he had seen. Liverpool's manager regularly remonstrated with the fourth official but he bit his lip during the subsequent media conference. Privately, though, he was furious.

'It is much too early in the season to create headlines by saying the things I think about the situation,' said Klopp. 'It looks like he was lucky but we have to wait a little bit. He couldn't keep on playing but in the dressing room he looks OK.

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