Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp snaps at reporter over Pep Guardiola ‘overthink’ question

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp snapped at a reporter for taking comments made by Pep Guardiola earlier this week too literally and labelled his Manchester City counterpart ‘the best coach in the world’.

The rival Premier League managers – whose teams are separated by just a single point at the top of the table – go head-to-head at the Etihad on Sunday in a titanic battle that will have a massive influence on the destination of the title.

Both sides played Champions League quarter-final matches in the build-up, with City claiming a narrow first-leg lead at home to Atletico Madrid and Liverpool winning impressively away at Benfica.

In the build-up to the Atletico clash, Guardiola joked that he might ‘overthink’ his tactics ahead of the match – something he has been accused of doing in Champions League knockout matches in the past – and those remarks were put to Klopp at his pre-match press conference on Friday.

Asked about Guardiola’s comments, and whether it is easy to overthink a game such as the upcoming clash between Liverpool and City, Klopp started to shake his head in disbelief, feeling the quotes had been taken too literally, and replied: ‘It was ironic. Did you never realise?

‘I heard this week in Ecuador people made a story out of me saying I didn’t understand Luis Diaz. We have really a responsibility on this planet. If you want to talk to us [managers] then do me a favour and help us [with the context].

‘He said ironically “I overthink things” or “I like overthinking things”. Pep is the best coach in the world, I think we all would agree on that.

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