Jurgen Klopp admits he crossed the line and deserved a yellow card for his confrontation with Mikel Arteta during Saturday’s 4-0 victory at Anfield, while the Arsenal boss played down claims the incident fired up the Reds.
The game had initially been a relatively tame affair but ignited after the half-hour mark when the two coaches had to be held back as they screamed and shouted at each other.
Arteta appeared to be angry with what seemed to be an innocuous challenge from Sadio Mane on Takehiro Tomiyasu, prompting a furious exchange on the touchline as the referee showed yellow cards to both managers.
The clash livened up the Anfield crowd and fired up Liverpool’s players, with Mane opening the scoring just few minutes later, and they tore through Arsenal’s defence in the second half to score three more goals – and, it could have been more.
Klopp was reluctant to pin Liverpool’s display on his clash with Arteta and says he was only defending Mane, having felt Arsenal’s coaching staff had overreacted to the challenge.
Asked about the argument, Klopp told Sky Sports afterwards: ‘It was about the situation that it was absolutely no foul from Sadio but the Arsenal bench went up like it was nearly a red card. And I asked what did they want in that situation, because I really cannot get that anymore.
‘We had to take Sadio off against Atletico Madrid [in the Champions League] because Atletico went only for that and wanted him to get a yellow card, and then I have to take him off and all these kinds of things, and it’s just not okay.
‘The referee did really well in that situation – I deserved a yellow card. It’s no problem at all. But it was really about that thing.
‘If it was a harsh challenge we are all like this, but it was nothing, he didn’t even touch him, it was just two players going up in the air. And [Arteta’s reaction] was not okay and that is what I said.’
On whether the incident fired up the support and the players, Klopp said: ‘I don’t know, I’ll have to watch it back – if that was the case I’ll do it more often! Of course that’s not possible, you can’t act like this it just happened in the moment.’
Arteta was also asked about what caused the argument, he said: ‘Nothing. I think he was defending his team and I was defending my team. That’s it.’
Probed on whether the flashpoint worked against his team, the Arsenal manager added: ‘I don’t know, I think the atmosphere was extraordinary right from the beginning and this crowd doesn’t need much, so I don’t think it made a difference. Yes I did [speak to Klopp after the match] and I congratulated him. These moments are left on the pitch.’
