Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has described how ‘the other Pep’ Guardiola used a physio to talk to the German after the Champions League final.
Goal.com have ran an exclusive interview with Klopp in which the Reds manager described the immediate aftermath of that famous night in Madrid and how Guardiola magnanimously reached out to him.
Tottenham beat City in the semi-final and then went down to Liverpool as Klopp delivered the club’s sixth European title to Anfield, but that didn’t stop the Spanish gaffer from reaching out to his rival.
And in order to do it, Guardiola used former City physio Lee Nobes as an intermediary in his quest to offer his congratulations to the ex-Borussia Dortmund boss.
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“I thought it was my Pep, Pep Lijnders!” Goal reported that Klopp said after he saw the name on Nobes phone, but there was a bit of a surprise for him on the other end of the phone.
“Only when I started speaking that I realised it was the other Pep!” continued the German, who said that the two world class managers shared a ‘nice, nice moment.’
City won the Premier League, while Liverpool grabbed the Champions League. They both could have had better seasons, but they both had successful ones.
And it’s probably that factor which contributed to what Klopp says were two managers in a good mood, sharing a few jokes.
The German likes to keep things more civil on the sideline and doesn’t foster the same kind of stormy relationship with his immediate peers as some of the other league legends.
“I don’t need this very negative kind of emotion when I see my colleague a few yards away,” he continued, which will help to build the type of connections that mean his peers feel comfortable phoning Klopp to congratulate him on any success. And he probably does the same to them.
Liverpool will start their competitive campaign against City on Sunday as they both try and claim the Community Shield.