Jose Mourinho says he cannot consider Jurgen Klopp his friend due to a lack of time spent together.
The two managers are set to meet for the 13th time on Thursday when Liverpool face Tottenham Hotspur in what could be an important Premier League clash.
Whilst Mourinho says he has plenty of respect for Klopp, the Tottenham boss says he has not spent enough time with his Anfield counterpart to consider him a friend.
Pointing to his own personal history with Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo, who played under Mourinho at Porto, and Leicester City's Brendan Rodgers, who was a coach at Chelsea, the Portuguese boss says it is only possible to become friends with managers after a prolonged period of time together.
He said: "I'm not a friend of Jurgen as I never had time with Jurgen.
"Nuno, he was my player. Brendan worked in my club for a couple of years together.
"So when you have something in common, when you know the person well, you can say 'I like him, he's my friend' or 'I don't like him, he's not my friend'.
"With Jurgen, it's five minutes before a match, five minutes after a match.
"What can I say about Jurgen?
"He's a colleague that I respect, that I don't have any problem with. He's the same with me, no problems at all."
Klopp has a strong record against Mourinho in their 12 matches against each other, winning six of them - including December's last-gasp victory over Spurs at Anfield.
Mourinho has two victories, with the other four games being draws.
