Jurgen Klopp insists he has no personal issues with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
The pair are currently in charge of two of the best sides in Premier League history and have seen their sides dominate English football in the past few years. With City and Liverpool both fighting for the same titles, the personal relationship between Klopp and Guardiola has come under more scrutiny - especially in the build-up to this week's meeting at the Etihad.
And when asked about their relationship, Klopp played down talk of any animosity between himself and Guardiola. Instead, the German insisted he will never develop any animosity towards any of the fellow managers he comes up against.
He told the Mirror: “I don’t know most of them on a personal level so why should I have rivalry with a person I don’t know?
“I don’t have to hate the manager of the other team to want to beat him. That’s just not me.
"When I started playing football, I only played with my best friends. There were only ten or so. We played five-a-side and they were absolutely my best friends until they were on the other team.
“Then, I wanted to beat him desperately just to win the game. And when the game was over, it was over and we went and did something completely different.
“We are constantly competing against our rivals when we are on the pitch but I don’t have enough time to think about all these other things.
“I don’t have anything but respect for the other managers because I know how difficult a job this is.”
In a separate interview with Robbie Savage's Premier League Breakfast on BBC Radio 5 Live, Klopp hailed Guardiola as the best manager of the current era.
"I respect what he's doing. When we meet, I want to beat him," Klopp said.
"But I have absolutely no problem with admitting my 100% honest opinion that he is the best manager of our era. That's no problem for me. That doesn't cost me confidence or whatever."
"I have fought so often so hard against teams of Pep Guardiola. I don't know how many years… about four, three in Germany. I was not even close to the Pep Guardiola teams, so I had a different road to reach that battle.
"I like him. I really admire what he's doing. We met last season twice, I think in a different surrounding with all families, which was really nice. So they liked each other as well. So that was all good."
