Atletico Madrid and Diego Simeone slammed by Trevor Sinclair for using ‘dark arts’ against Liverpool – ‘It was a horrible game to watch’

Trevor Sinclair has hit out at old adversary Diego Simeone and his Atletico Madrid side for using the ‘dark arts’ against Liverpool in the Champions League.

Atletico struck early through midfielder Saul Niguez in the fourth minute and managed to shut out the defending European champions with a dogged defensive display, sealing a 1-0 victory.

But the Spanish side have faced criticism for the manner of their first-leg victory due to some of their players’ dirty tricks.

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Reds full-back Andy Robertson hit back at Atleti after the game, accusing their players of ‘falling over and trying to get under our skin’, but followed that up with a reminder that the tie is far from over ahead of the return leg at their Anfield fortress.

And Sinclair was also not happy with what he saw, saying the home side’s theatrics and negative play made it a ‘horrible game to watch’ in Spain.

“I played against Simeone in the World Cup and he was a horrible man to play against,” the former England international said on White and Sawyer.

“Atletico Madrid have got some great talented players, so to use the dark arts I think is wrong.

“For me, deliberate handballs, pulling shirts, cynical deliberate fouls, diving, these are all things I don’t want to see in the game.

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“We call it the beautiful game for a reason, football is supposed to be beautiful to watch

“But this is absolute rubbish, I don’t like seeing it.

“It was a horrible game to watch. People probably would have switched over to the Borussia Dortmund game.

“You have to say with what they’re doing they’ve got to be ultra-fit, ultra-dedicated and they got to really believe in the manager. Those three things they’ve certainly got in enormous amounts.

“But it’s not what I want to see.”

Watch the clip of Trevor Sinclair on talkSPORT above