RAFA SURPRISED BY RED CARD

Rafa Benitez has admitted that he is as surprised as Javier Mascherano after the Argentinian midfielder was sent off against Man Utd for what Benitez labelled as simply 'asking a question'. Liverpool slumped to a 3-0 defeat against United.

Benitez explained: “It's clear Mascherano made a mistake but he was only asking the referee a question. Ryan Babel was there and saw that he was just asking.

"Maybe he does not know the referee. The referee decided to give a second yellow card and he couldn't understand. He was as surprised as me.

"I could speak to him in Spanish, so I said, 'Listen, it's finished.'

"He knows he made a mistake but he was so surprised. He is a very good professional who has played a lot of international games all around the world, and he couldn't understand why he was sent off for just asking.

"It's difficult to explain some things that happen on the pitch and I think it is perhaps better to not say too much this time."