His reaction to being taken off was second to none

To be taken off with only 10 minutes of the tie remaining and the possibility of a penalty shootout was gutting for the forward and you could clearly see from his expression how disappointed he was – and rightly, so but Balotelli reacted in the best possible way.

He made his way off the field, gave Adam Lallana a pat on the back and went to sit down in the dugout.

That is a far cry from how he has behaved in the past and many older and wiser players have thrown a paddy when being subbed during matches and was real progress from the forward. Sadly for his manager, it was the wrong decision with the Reds being knocked out after penalties – which Balotelli is pretty flawless at.