'Please spare me the inevitable Simeone masterclass nonsense': Michael Owen joins Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in Atletico Madrid criticism as he insists Reds 'pumped them throughout'... despite crashing out of Champions League last 16

• e-mail

The fallout of Liverpool's Champions League defeat by Atletico Madrid has continued with Michael Owen blasting the performance of the latter.

The defending champions were dumped out of the last-16 stage on Wednesday night 4-2 on aggregate after losing the second leg at Anfield 3-2 after extra-time.

Liverpool looked to be progressing through when Roberto Firmino put them 2-0 up in extra time only for a Marcos Llorente double and Alvaro Morata strike to see the visitors cause an upset.

Michael Owen has blasted Atletico Madrid's tactics after they beat Liverpool on Wednesday

Owen took to Twitter on Thursday morning to hit out at their win due to their defensive tactics

Goals from Alvaro Morata (left) and Marcos Llorente saw Atletico dump out the current holders

Atletico's win was more remarkable considering the stats. They had 10 shots in total and 29 per cent possession compared to Liverpool's 34 shots and 71 per cent possession.

Their defensive mindset was criticised by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp post-match and former Reds striker Michael Owen echoed his sentiments.

'Please spare me all this inevitable [Diego] Simeone masterclass nonsense,' he blasted on Twitter on Thursday morning.

'There's nothing genius about putting 11 top class footballers behind the ball. Liverpool absolutely pumped them throughout.'

Klopp hit out at Atletico Madrid for not playing 'proper football' - stating his displeasure at his counterpart Diego Simeone's tactics.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp took aim at Atletico Madrid for their style of play post-match

Klopp insisted that players like Koke (right) could play 'proper football' after the defeat

'I'm completely happy with the performance. What can I say? It's so difficult to play against a side like that.

'I don't understand with this quality they have to be honest why they play this type of football. It's right, the winner is always.

'When I see players like Koke, Saul, Llorente, they could play proper football and not stand in their own half and play counter-attacking football.

'They beat us, that's how it is and we accept that of course. Congratulations to them. It doesn't feel right tonight. I realise I'm a really, really bad loser.

'Especially when the boys put such an effort in a game. Not just two players but with two banks of four and two strikers in front of them. They didn't even have counter-attacks.

Diego Simeone's men pulled off a brilliant 3-2 win at Anfield to knock Liverpool out of Europe

'They were just brilliant. We have to accept that we concede three goals but the game can decide this.

'We had some lucky moments in the Champions League, we know that to get to two finals. Today, it was pretty much everything against us in the decisive moments.'

When asked about Klopp's analysis of Atletico's approach, Simeone replied: 'I respect his identity and the quality footballers they have.

'We try to exploit deficiencies in the opponent. That's what we do. And we try to win.'

Simeone celebrates after Atletico secured their progression with a 4-2 win on aggregate