Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp shared his candid opinion on Sergio Ramos while talking with Toni Kroos.
Klopp, who stepped down from his Liverpool role at the close of the 2023-24 season after a nine-year tenure, has been associated with multiple managerial opportunities since his departure…Continue Reading
Recently, he took on the position of global head of soccer for The Red Bull Group. However, this move has drawn criticism from supporters of his former club, Mainz.
Before Mainz’s Bundesliga match against RB Leipzig, owned by The Red Bull Group, on October 19, fans displayed a banner that read: “Have you forgotten everything we made you become?”
A second said: “Are you crazy?”
Klopp has since spoken out to defend his decision.
For now, the German coach isn’t planning to return to management anytime soon. But even if he never stands on the touchline again, his accomplishments place him among football’s all-time greats.
While leading Liverpool, his primary domestic competitor was Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, while Real Madrid frequently thwarted his European ambitions.
Klopp recently reflected on the rivalry between these two major European clubs.
He watched Madrid defeat his Liverpool side 3-1 in the 2018 Champions League final in Kyiv, Ukraine. Four years later, Madrid once again prevailed with a narrow 1-0 win in Paris, France.
In the 2018 showdown, Madrid defender Sergio Ramos brought down Liverpool’s star player Mohamed Salah near the halfway line, resulting in a shoulder injury that forced Salah off the field after just 30 minutes.
The tackle drew criticism from some fans, and it appears Klopp still hasn’t forgotten it.
“If you see him again and you’re not from Real Madrid, you think he’s ruthless and brutal,” Klopp told Kroos while speaking on Einfach mal Luppen.
“If you put together all of Ramos’ actions, and I’ve watched football since I was five years old, you’ll see that a lot of things happen with Ramos.
“I think in a situation like Ramos with Salah, someone needs to judge it better. With VAR, it is a situation that you have to look at again… I don’t think Mo would have always gotten hurt in that situation.
“This time, he was unlucky. I don’t know if it will be something that we will see again: elbowing the goalkeeper, knocking down an opponent like a wrestler in the centre of the field and then winning the game.”
Even Kroos, who played with Ramos for the best part of a decade, admitted that the action was “brutal”.
“Is Mr. Sergio Ramos really a good guy?” asked Klopp.
“He is not my favourite player. The action was brutal. Of course, he can’t know it’s going to hurt his shoulder, but we all know he accepted it very happily. I could never understand that mentality, I never had players like that, and, when I did, I made sure they left.”
However, Kroos later explained how Ramos was a “good teammate”.
