This archive report was first published on 5 November 2019.
Published on November 5, 2019, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has fired back at Manchester City's Pep Guardiola after the Spanish coach made some contentious comments about Reds forward Sadio Mane.
Klopp was responding to Guardiola's jibe that Liverpool's Sadio Mane 'sometimes dives' during a post-match interview after City's win over Southampton last Saturday.
Guardiola's comments sparked a heated exchange between the two managers, with Klopp saying he was not impressed by the City boss's remarks.
“I am not sure if Pep spoke in that moment about Sadio or the team – both is not too nice, to be honest,” Klopp said.
He added: “Somebody showed it to me because I had to see it as everybody told me about it…I couldn’t really believe it to be honest. Then I saw it.
“I am not too sure if I want to put oil on the fire. I am not interested in these kind of things. And I promise not to mention tactical fouls.
“That is maybe already too much, but that is the only thing I say about it.”
Klopp also dismissed claims that Mane is a diver, saying the Liverpool forward is not theatrical in the box.
“I can say Sadio is not a diver,” Klopp said. “In the Villa game he got contact and went down. Maybe it was not a penalty but there was contact.
“All the other penalties were penalties because he was in that situation. I am 100 percent sure if something like this happened for Manchester City they would want to have penalty because somebody kicked their player in the box and that’s a penalty.
“But I am absolutely not in a Man City mood at the moment.”
