Jurgen Klopp defended Liverpool's decision to appeal Sadio Mane's suspension following his red card against Manchester City – although he is not surprised by the FA's decision to uphold a three-game ban.
Mane was dismissed after 37 minutes of the Reds' 5-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday after catching home goalkeeper Ederson with a boot in the face.
Klopp and opposite number Pep Guardiola both expressed sympathy with Mane afterwards and the Senegal forward wished Ederson a speedy recovery in a Facebook post, where he described the incident as an "accidental collision".
The notion of challenging the red card was dismissed as a "waste of time" by Klopp at his post-match news conference but the Football Association confirmed they had rejected a Liverpool claim of "excessive punishment" on Tuesday.
"I'm not sure if I’m disappointed, I didn't expect anything different. I thought our appeal was absolutely right," Klopp said at a news conference ahead of Wednesday's Champions League Group E opener against Sevilla at Anfield.
"We never appealed the red card, only the length of the suspension. But actually I never thought [a reduction in the ban] would happen, only because I am used to things like this."
Klopp believes the severity of the facial cuts suffered by Ederson, who lay prone on the turf for five minutes before leaving the field on a stretcher, had an influence upon referee Jon Moss' decision and also alluded to similar incidents – such as Matt Ritchie's challenge on Alfie Mawson during Newcastle United's win at Swansea City on Sunday – not receiving the same punishment.
"It's not an English thing. There were lots of situations in the last few weeks that were similar," he said.
"If you want, all the other players were lucky. Only Sadio was not lucky and Ederson was not lucky.
"We don’t want to underestimate this, it looks awful and Ederson was lucky nothing more serious happened in this situation."
Mane is available to face Sevilla but will miss this weekend's home game against Burnley, along with the dual EFL Cup and Premier League trips to Leicester City.
"The most important thing for me to say is not even one per cent of Sadio wanted to put the goalkeeper in danger. He wanted to get the ball," Klopp added.
"It's important he wants to do that in all the games he plays. We cannot change this. It’s a sport where things like this happen.
"I don’t blame the referee for the decision. He didn't give the red card immediately but when he saw the player bleeding. I would have made the same decision.
"It was our duty to appeal, but as I said after the game, it was a waste of time."
