Platini reckons Rodgers must explain selection policy to Reds fans

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers should explain to the fans his team selection against Real Madrid in Tuesday's Champions League Group B match, UEFA president Michel Platini said on Wednesday.

Many Liverpool supporters were seething that he left Steven Gerrard, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson, Mario Balotelli and Philippe Coutinho out of the starting lineup in the 1-0 defeat, with one eye on Saturday's Premier League match with Chelsea.

Champions League rules state that clubs must field their strongest sides but UEFA is not considering any action.

Platini said he thought the Liverpool team on Tuesday was better than the one that lost 3-0 at home to Real two weeks ago.

"First of all he has to explain to his fans why he put this team out -- not to me, not to you," said the Frenchman.

"Are you sure it was not the best team? How can I say that? The coach of Liverpool, if I say something, he'll say, 'Oh, Michel Platini, I put my best team of the moment.' And I would be stupid.

"If I am the coach of Liverpool, I say, 'It's my best team. How you can prove it's not your best team?' I can't interfere with that."

'I picked a team that I thought could get a result'

After the match Rodgers said: "I didn't see this as a big showcase game where I had to play the so-called names. It might have seemed a gamble but for me it wasn't."

"I didn't rest players for Saturday. I picked a team that I thought could get a result. The players that came in were excellent and we were unfortunate not to get a result."

Former England striker Gary Linkeer, now a TV pundit for the BBC, tweeted: "Selecting a weakened side in Europe's premier competition, especially against Real Madrid, is unbefitting of a club of Liverpool's stature.

"If I were one of Liverpool's star players, I'd be choked to be left out of a game at the Bernabeu against the European Champions."

Rodgers responded by saying: "I think the performance says the words. Gary is a figure who I respect and was a top player in his day but he's never been a manager, so he has never truly understood what it is like in terms of picking players."

"The performance was far from throwing the white towel in. Right to the very end my players put in a performance befitting of the wonderful club this is. That would be my answer."

After hearing the Liverpool manager's response, Lineker tweeted: "Rodgers intimating that many of his players were dropped for being awful at Newcastle (in a 1-0 defeat) rather than being rested. If that's true, fair enough."