Jose Mourinho Explains Why Jurgen Klopp Was So Angry In The Touchline Incident
Jan 16, 2017 at 4:25 PM
Expectation was high ahead of Manchester United’s heavyweight clash with Liverpool on Sunday – and it certainly didn’t disappoint.
With pride and all three points at stake in the latest north-west derby, both sides were gunning for victory to keep their Premier League title hopes alive.
Paul Pogba threatened to derail United’s faint challenge in the first half after giving away a daft penalty, which James Milner duly converted.
But up stepped Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 84th minute to head home and salvage a point.
The drama was far from over after the Swede’s equaliser, though, with Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp embroiled in a touchline row in the dying embers of the game.
Following a challenge from Ander Herrera on Roberto Firmino, which saw the latter push his opponent in the face, Klopp reacted furiously and Mourinho was in his firing line.
Footage of the pair arguing was certainly entertaining but United’s manager has now explained exactly what happened.
He told reporters in a post-match press conference, per Manchester Evening News: “No [there is no problem]. He thought I was asking for his player to be sent off, I wasn’t. No problem at all.
“I think the game was correct, I think the players gave everything in an emotional way, professional way. I think the referee managed very well that part of the game, aggression but good.
“So I think the game was a great publicity for the Premier League all around the world.”
Cameras showed Mourinho shouting at the referee after Herrera and Firmino’s tangle, which Klopp misinterpreted as the Portuguese trying to get his man sent off.
The Liverpool manager has since confirmed that was why he was so angry, though he still believes Mourinho was trying to meddle.
He said, per the Independent: “He wanted the minimum of a yellow card, I don’t know. I think the ref whistled before anything else happened.
“Roberto is a footballer from head to toe and he wanted to stay in the game. That was a yellow card for Herrera and nothing else.
“In the end it was a yellow card for the guy who wanted to play football. It could have been even worse if someone wants to see it again and all that stuff.
“We (Klopp and Mourinho) could not have the same opinion in this moment.”