Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister has revealed what transpired between Darwin Nunez and Pep Guardiola at the Etihad last weekend.
Klopp’s men secured a late point after conceding a first-half goal by Erling Haaland, but Trent Alexander-Arnold fired in a powerful low strike which saw them keep pace with the reigning champions at the top of the table.
The forward and manager came together just seconds after the final whistle and had to be separated, at first, by Jurgen Klopp, before a sea of players and officials came to de-escalate the situation.
“Basically, they had a situation.” Mac Allister explained to Clank!.
“I don’t know if it was a corner or a cross that Haaland headed and the ball went past the goal next to the post. Pep turned around and started saying how lucky we are or something like that…
“Then it goes to the last bit of play, the ball is crossed into the middle and Lucho Diaz wants to head it and they save it. So then Darwin tells him, ‘ah, now you are the ones who are lucky’. From there, everything went to s. But it was very calm. Nothing serious.”
The Man City manager commented on the issue in his post-match interview as he claimed he wouldn’t have wanted to escalate the situation any further:
“He is stronger than me! Listen, nothing happened.
“It wasn’t frustration [at the performance], I’m really pleased. So the second question in the press conference you ask about that?
“Maybe for the last question you ask about Pep Guardiola and Darwin Nunez but nothing happened! I am incredibly pleased for the performance we played because we know how tough they are.”
Klopp also gave a humorous response after the game:
“I love them both and so I tried to calm the situation down. I was absolutely not involved, surprisingly!’ explained Klopp afterwards.
“I am not sure I am the right one to explain it without knowing 100 per cent what happened because I didn’t understand a word. It was emotion. Pep wants to win, we want to win. Both didn’t win so obviously nobody was really happy and these things can happen.”
