Misfiring Italian striker Mario Balotelli’s career took a turn for the worst against Madrid on Wednesday with a haif-time shirt swap that did not impress manager Brendan Rodgers.
With Liverpool 3-0 down and being outclassed by the champions, Balotelli was spotted by TV cameras in an exchange of shirts with Real Madrid defender Pepe in the tunnel, a ritual that was totally out of place at that point.
Rodgers was told of the act in an interview after the game. Rodgers, who took off the striker at the break for tactical reasons, said he did not like it and would deal with the situation.
Rodgers was in a similar situation in December when there was a shirt swap between his player Mamadou Sakho and then Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o. then, he said: “That’s the first time I’ver heard of it but if that’s the case then I wouldn’t like it.
“It’s something that I don’t like to see. I’ve seen it happen in other leagues and other countries but it is certainly something that doesn’t happen here and shouldn’t happen.”
“For me, if you want to do that it’s something you do at the end of the game.
“We had an incident last year here with a player, which I dealt with, and if that’s the case then I will deal with this as well.”
Rodgers didn’t seem impressed by Balotelli’s effort on the night. The player hasn’t scored in six Premier League games since his £16 million move and looks increasingly short of confidence after missing an open goal against QPR on Sunday.
“it was just tactical. I felt that we needed a bit more intensity and someone to create through the middle and occupy their centre halves a wee bit more. Adam Lallana came on and did very, very well,” said Rodgers