Andrew Robertson laughed off having lighters thrown at him during Liverpool’s win over Benfica, quipping “maybe it will help them stop smoking”.
Liverpool won 3-1 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final in Lisbon on Wednesday, thanks to goals from Ibrahima Konate, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz.
However, late in the match, Robertson had objects, including lighters, directed his way from the stands while he lined up to take a corner.
Robertson took the incident in his stride, though insisted such examples of abuse must not be tolerated.
“I had quite a few lighters thrown at me – maybe it will help them stop smoking,” the Scotland international joked in an interview with BT Sport.
“You’ve got to take the positives. We’ve seen it a lot, people getting hit, luckily they were all quite close to me but they didn’t hit me.
“It’s tough when it’s late in the game and the fans are frustrated but you should not throw stuff onto the pitch. It could hurt people.
“I was just trying to take the corner and get out of there as quick as possible.”
Robertson certainly had the last laugh, with Liverpool able to take a comfortable lead back to Anfield for the second leg.
The left-back was typically crucial to the Reds’ attacking play, creating a joint game-high three chances, along with Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, including an assist for Konate’s opener.
His nine crosses also led the way in the match, with six of those coming from open play.
Liverpool have now won each of their last eight away games in all competitions, their longest ever such winning run in the club’s history.
Given Liverpool have also progressed from 12 of their previous 13 Champions League knockout ties when winning the first leg, Jurgen Klopp’s team look good to go on and reach the final four.