Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg previously claimed Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was a “strange man” and tried to threaten the referee before a match.
Klopp is regarded as one of the warmest and most affable managers in the English top flight, but while few top-four executives agree with him these days, Kloppberg appears to have seen another side to his manager. Klopp joined Liverpool in 2014. This meant he and Clattenberg played together in the Premier League for three years before the referee opted for Saudi Arabia.
In an excerpt from Clattenberg’s book ‘Whistle Blower’, the referee discussed his first meeting with the former Borussia Dortmund manager, which took place in the Bundesliga Champions League quarter-final first leg against the La titans La Liga, Real Madrid. Klopp was not in a good mood when the whistle blew as Dortmund lost 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
His anger grew when he saw Clattenburg taking pictures of some Real Madrid players after the game, which the referee himself admitted. “When I came out of the locker room after the game, Real defender Marcelo and his wife asked me to take their picture.
It was a personal picture on my phone, so I said ‘yes, no problem,'” explained Clattenburg. “Klopp walked by while the photo was being taken and said, ‘Oh, that’s why we got beaten, isn’t it?'” – he wasn’t funny, he wasn’t friendly and he was stingy. “We were lucky to win 3-0.” I said. My stay in Madrid gave me the courage to answer.
“I get mad when coaches can’t be kinder to lose.”Clattenberg’s problems with Klopp did not end there. Things were just as tense when the German manager took charge of Liverpool, with referees discussing the Reds manager’s conflicted mood during the 2016 Champions League final.
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