Liverpool center-back Virgil Van Dijk has said his tackle on Dries Mertens was legal after Napoli manager Carlo Ancelotti thought he should have been sent off.
The Reds defeated the Serie A side by a lone goal from Mohamed Salah which sent them out of the Champions League.
And Ancelotti's side were unable to draw level as they have been relegated to play into the Europa League next year.
But the former Real Madrid boss was not happy with the Dutch defender who remained on the field after his challenge on Mertens in the first half.
Van Dijk's studs flew into the Belgian's ankle which forced the striker off and the defender was only given a yellow card but will miss Liverpool's first leg in the round of 16.
"From the video, it is a red card," Ancelotti told a news conference.
"There are a lot of questions about VAR, but when VAR comes in the Champions League it will be too late.
"Unfortunately I'm suspended now for the first game.
"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."
But the former Southampton and Celtic center-half has hit back at the Italian gaffer, insisting the tackle was a fair game.
"I don't think it was a bad challenge at all," Van Dijk said.
"Unfortunately I touched him, but I would never go in to hurt him or anything like that.
"I had the ball and obviously [with] the wet pitch you slide through and I touched him, but that's football."
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