Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has hailed Wednesday’s win over Atletico Madrid as a ‘nearly perfect’ game.

The Reds cruised to a 2-0 victory over Atleti, who went down to 10 men in the first half after Felipe’s red card.

Klopp’s side have now booked their spot in the Champions League knockout stages with two group games to spare.

“In the second half, of course, that’s how it is,” said Klopp. “We lost a player through injury with Roberto Firmino. People want to see more goals but we did create more chances. I think the game was nearly perfect.

“We scored the goals in the right moments. They were much more on the front foot with how they started than the home game but we started well. They were fantastic finishes as well, especially Sadio Mane. With the red card, well, you don’t like that, you don’t want to play against 10 men but in the end it’s 2-0 and it was a great night.

“The referee was [in control] but I really hate the moment when I had to take off Sadio Mane. You could see that every challenge in the air, you don’t know what could happen. I didn’t like it but, in the end, you have to do it.

“You earn a lot of money to win Champions League games! The first target was to get through this group. But we did it with two games to go. What can we do? We will have to see. I didn’t expect we would be through after four games, but the boys did it and it’s really well deserved.”