He took action against Reds defender Mamadou Sakho when he exchanged shirts with Chelsea’s Samuel Eto’o during the interval of a 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge last season and vowed to do the same with Balotelli, although he declined to say what the punishment would be.

“We had an incident last year with a player and it was dealt with. It’s exactly the same,” Rodgers said.

“I heard about it when I came off the pitch. I don’t like that.

“It’s something that doesn’t happen here, it shouldn’t happen here.

“For me, if you want to do that it’s something you do at the end of the game.”

Balotelli has scored just once in 10 appearances for the Reds and Rodgers was scathing when asked to compare his forward’s lethargic effort against Real to the more whole-hearted endeavours of his teammates.

“I felt we needed more movement centrally, so I moved Raheem [Sterling] there to occupy the centre-backs,” Rodgers said.

“In the second half you could see every player pressing and working.

“At Liverpool that is the minimum we expect. You could see Adam Lallana when he came on he was tireless in his work.”

Real earned their first-ever win over Liverpool with a wondrous Cristiano Ronaldo goal spearheading the victory which appeared as classy as it was dominant.

Ronaldo’s glorious 23rd minute strike and a double from Karim Benzema sealed the champions’ triumph before half-time, leaving Real’s Portuguese icon insisting his side were in the mood to become the first team in the Champions League era to successfully defend the title.

“We know it’ll be very tough but we know it’s possible if we play like that,” said Ronaldo, after scoring his 70th Champions League goal, which puts him within one of equalling Raul’s all-time record.

He had a chance to share the mark but was thwarted by a point blank second half save from Simon Mignolet.

“I’m not worried about that [Raul’s record] I know I’m going to beat his record today or another game. Me and Messi [69 goals] are very close,” said Ronaldo.

Agence France-Presse, Reuters