Andoni Iraola reckons his Liverpool side played two different matches against Manchester City, and the Spaniard came away proud of his players.
Manchester City won 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday evening in the sixth round of Premier League fixtures.
Nothing separated the two sides until Ryan Gravenberch saw red in the 62nd minute. City then rattled off three goals in succession to settle it.
Iraola told "BBC" after the match: "I think it is first of all about the fact that we played two different matches. The first before the red card, and the second after it. During the first 60 minutes, the players' performance was excellent. As for the second match, after the red card, Manchester City were better than us in it."
Turning to the Gravenberch dismissal, he added: "The first yellow card was just a kick on the toe. It was nothing. It was an ordinary foul."
He continued: "That was the moment when we were putting in more effort. The momentum was building in our favour, and the atmosphere in the stadium was absolutely superb."
"We conceded very few chances in the first half. We put in a very good performance. And in the second half, we were turning that into chances," he went on.
The Spaniard noted: "It is already difficult to press them when the two sides are level 11 against 11, but a man down, the match becomes completely different, and then we concede a goal right before making any substitution. You have to play differently when you are a goal behind."
And he added: "You learn a lot in matches like this. I am very proud of my players. They gave their all today. It is true that we lost the match and did not get any positive result, but I enjoyed it a great deal."
Asked whether his injured players could return for the Champions League this week, Iraola said: "It will be difficult, there are only two days left. Nobody knows what will happen."