Basel's Behrang Safari has claimed that Lazar Markovic left him bleeding from the mouth following a clash which resulted in the Liverpool winger getting controversially sent off in last night's Champions League match.

The 20-year-old, who came on as a second-half substitute at Anfield, was given a straight red card after his flailing arm scraped the face of Safari.

Despite there being minimal contact, the Basel player told Sportbladet: "I was bleeding from my mouth. I wouldn't have gone to ground if he hadn't hit me. I am not the kind of player who dives.

"It was a bit strange, I didn't realise that it was a red card first. I thought the referee had blown his whistle because it was a head injury, and I thought I was going to give the ball to the Liverpool players afterwards, but then I noticed that the Liverpool players were angry with me."

The match eventually ended in a 1-1 draw, which was not enough to put Liverpool through to the knockout rounds of the competition.