Pep Lijnders - Jurgen Klopp's No 2 - has joked that the Liverpool boss walks around like Conor McGregor when they play padel tennis.
The pair came across the sport in pre-season whilst in Spain and have since had a court built at Melwood.
Padel tennis is played on an enclosed court that is about a third the size of a normal tennis court.
And Lijnders admits that the German struts around like MMA star McGregor when things are going his way - which they often do.
He said: “We started playing about four years ago during our training camp in Tenerife.
“We were playing the game with our staff and a few players. At first, we didn’t quite know what a padel court looked like and thought it had to be played a bit like table tennis.
“Our media officer looked up the rules of the game on the internet. We didn’t know he had given us the wrong rules till this Spanish chap came by and asked us what on earth we were doing. We said: ‘Playing padel tennis’.
“He laughed and said: ‘Well, I know one thing – you don’t play it like that!’.
“When we got back, the owners built a court for us at Melwood and now we are playing this game almost every day at our training centre.
“Jurgen is fanatical about it – and he’s good, too. But we never say he’s the best out loud – otherwise he starts to walk round like Conor McGregor.
“He battles for every point, with massive focus, too. Even when I am winning, he gets right under my skin.
“So when I do beat him, I let everyone at the club hear about it!’’
