BritishCoach Jurgen Klopp explains how to prevent the conflict between Pep Guardiola and Darwin Nunez after the Man City - Liverpool match in round 13 of the Premier League.
“I love both of them so I tried to calm the situation,” Klopp said in a press conference after the 1-1 draw at Etihad Stadium. “I am completely unrelated. I'm not sure I'm the right person to explain this. I didn't understand a word and didn't know what really happened."
The Liverpool coach said that the problem may be purely emotional. Guardiola wants to win and his team also wants to win. When both sides fail to achieve their goals, conflicts like the one between Guardiola and Nunez can happen. Klopp also believes that the incident is not related to the history of competition between the two clubs. “I don't think Nunez knows anything about that,” the Liverpool coach added.
Jurgen Klopp pulled Darwin Nunez out of the argument with Pep Guardiola after the Man City 1-1 Liverpool match in round 13 of the Premier League on the evening of November 25, at Etihad Stadium. Image: AFP
The collision took place right after the final whistle. At first, Guardiola and Nunez happily shook hands. But after a few words, both sides suddenly changed their attitudes. After being pulled away by coach Klopp, Nunez still pointed at Guardiola with an angry look. During the press conference, Guardiola did not clarify what he said to Nunez, and only joked that Klopp must have been stronger than him to be able to drag the Uruguayan striker away.
In this match, Man City opened the scoring in the 27th minute. After receiving a pass from Nathan Ake, Erling Haaland kicked goalkeeper Alisson's hand into a goal. Although the match was not good, Liverpool still managed to regain a point. In the 80th minute, after a pass from Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold shot diagonally to equalize 1-1.
This result caused Man City to cede the top of the table to Arsenal - the team won 1-0 at Brentford's field. However, coach Guardiola affirmed that he was not disappointed but extremely satisfied with Man City's performance because after seven years of confrontation, he and his students both know how strong and tough Liverpool is. Guardiola added: “When they played, it was like heavy metal. When Salah touches the ball, he never loses it."
In this match, Haaland reached the milestone of 50 goals in the Premier League, even becoming the fastest player to reach this milestone in history in just 48 matches. Haaland has only played for Man City since 2022. The 23-year-old striker scored 36 Premier League goals last season, a record in a season, and 14 goals this season.
“Only 50 goals,” Guardiola joked. "Unbelievable. In this match, he almost had a second goal, with a deflected shot and a blocked shot. After that, Liverpool equalized. Such gaps are the problem in football."
After the Liverpool match, Man City lost the top position in the Premier League to Arsenal. The London team has 30 points, one point ahead of Man City and two points ahead of Liverpool.
Thanh Quy (follow Daily Mail)
