KLOPP’S ’DARK ARTS’WARNING Reds boss insists Atletico’s dirty tricks must not be allowed to succeed tonight

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JURGEN KLOPP says the dark arts of Atletico Madrid must not be allowed to succeed at Anfield tonight.

And the Liverpool boss insisted his side must respond to the inevitable provocation from the Spanish side with a display of their own pure

FROM BACK PAGE power. Klopp pulled no punches as he outlined the gamesmanship of their opponents in the first leg, where they targeted Sadio Mane and tried to get him dismissed with a series of dives.

“Sadio did nothing wrong, absolutely nothing, and I still thought in the next situation it will be like this,” he said. “If it was always that easy for you to get the best player of the opponent out, then there is something wrong with the game. If the player does nothing wrong, but it’s still possible... wow! Everyone from Atletico runs against his elbow or whatever – that shouldn’t happen.”

Klopp withdrew Mane at halftime in the 1-0 defeat after he was booked – but insisted he would not do that in the second leg.

“To ensure your best players stay on for 90 minutes? In a similar situation in the second game, we probably wouldn’t do the same.

“You always need a referee who is aware of situations like this, we cannot do it by ourselves. We expect a really ‘experienced’ performance from Atletico – and we have to deal with that.

“But there is another area of football where we can be better, better than the first game and better than Atletico, but we have to show that on the night.”

Klopp hinted that he has some surprises up his sleeve and, with skipper Jordan Henderson returning, he has options.

The Reds boss added: “If you prepare situations where it is not that easy to defend, then more often you are in situations where you can score – and that’s what we have to do.”