Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has publicly given his opinion over the controversial red card decision as Serbian winger Lazar Markovic was sent off for a raised hand gesture towards Basel defender Behrang Safari whilst on the ball - the referee Bjorn Kuipers saw the defender go down and had no hesitation in producing a red card from his pocket.
The Reds were getting back into the game (they were trailing 1-0 at this point) and Markovic was their catalyst having come off the substitutes bench. It is fair to say that Rodgers & co feel hard done by in regards to the decision, which made them go down to ten men and they struggled to keep up their fast-paced attacking momentum afterwards against a solid Basel side who were not hard to break down and knew exactly what their game plan was.
In the end, their 1-1 draw means that they have failed to qualify for the Last 16 of this season's UEFA Champions League, instead progressing through to the Europa League knock-out rounds having finished third in their group.
And, Rodgers had this to say in the post-match interview with ITV: "I thought it was an awful decision (in regards to the sending off). I thought the referee was disappointing on the evening to say the least. Markovic came on and was bright - he made a difference to the team, he was dynamic. He's just taken a touch away, he's obviously got his arm up. If that's a sending off you're going to get two to three sendings off every single game. It was a really, really poor decision. I'm not even sure if the referee has seen it - I think he's seen the player hold his face and lie down but there's no way that was a sending off."
A harsh decision for a straight red card, and in the end Liverpool fans across the globe will feel injustice is upon them after an inconsistent Champions League campaign. They only managed two wins and a draw out of their six fixtures, which they will certainly be disappointed by, given the fact that it is their return after a four-year absence and the media hype before the competition began.