Jurgen Klopp admits he doesn't know Pep Guardiola well enough to describe him as a friend but reiterated his professional admiration for the City boss.
The Liverpool manager will go head-to-head with his City counterpart in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon
Klopp believes Guardiola to be the world's best manager
Klopp did reveal he was contacted by Guardiola when it was confirmed he would be leaving Anfield after nine years in late January
Klopp
"I don’t know 100% if we like each other, I just know the respect is there,"
"We have had talks, phone calls, stuff like that in different moments. He went through a difficult period. I went through a difficult period. On a private basis. So we had contact there.
"I can't say nothing about old rivalries. I don’t know. Sir Alex Ferguson I know a little bit.
Respect him and like him a lot but we met five times in my life.
"Arsene Wenger more often because we played against one another. Rafa Benitez I don’t know.
"Jose Mourinho? I am pretty sure on a private basis he’s a good guy but how can you have with him a good relationship? It's like ‘Jose sit down’. It’s tricky. But during the games we are rivals and it’s normal.
"It’s just respect. It's not easy to respect what we are doing here as well. It's how you can have a relationship without having a relationship. While we are in charge of our respective clubs, why should we have a friendship or relationship?
"After that if we meet and look back then there will be a lot of things we could share and that will probably happen. But that will have to be after and I don’t know when that will happen."
Klopp added:
"He called and we had a talk, but I can’t tell you what we said to each other. I know things you would love to know!
"I don’t consider myself to be a loser because I lose finals, and I don’t consider myself as a winner because I won one.
"That has nothing to do with me. I just try to make the absolute best out of everything - so what we get, what we have in our hands.
"That means this team. Yes these fights and having 97 points and not winning the league is incredible, and yes we pushed each other.
"I’m sure City doesn’t reach 100 points without us and we don’t get 97 or whatever without City.
"You need that. In these difficult moments when players are not there and stuff like that, you need this little bit extra.
"The thought that if we don’t do it the other will come, we definitely pushed the other.
"It was good fun. It would have been better fun had we won it more often, no doubt about that, but my own view on it doesn’t change because of having a trophy or not.
"It was just exceptional what the boys did and it will not happen regularly.
"If somebody wants to get to that amount this year I think it’s only possible if someone wins all of their games. It’s crazy, but obviously City have done that and we have done that."
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