Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk defends his challenge on Napoli forward Dries Mertens - “I would never go in to hurt him”.
The Dutch defender was booked in the first half for a challenge on his Belgian opponent, as while he did win the ball he hit Mertens on the shin with his studs up.
Carlo Ancelotti felt it “could’ve been a red card”, but the defender insists there was no malice.
“I don't think it was a bad challenge at all,” Van Dijk told ESPN.
“Unfortunately I touched him, but I would never go in to hurt him or anything like that. I had the ball and obviously the wet pitch you slide through and I touched him but that’s football.
“Unfortunately I’m suspended now for the first game [of the knock-out stages]. I heard it after the game so I was a bit disappointed about that, but we have plenty of quality players to fill my gap.”