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Jürgen Klopp could not feel calm at first. In the top game of the English Premier League, Liverpool FC got a free kick in midfield at the end of injury time. The coach sent his head players forward to score Manchester City perhaps with a goal in the final second when the score was 1-1. But the ball rushed into the penalty area when goalkeeper Joel Matip had not yet arrived. Manchester clears with ease and the referee blows the whistle. So there is no winner on Sunday night in the duel between City and Liverpool.
Tobias Rabe
Editor in charge of Sport Online.
Klopp is stunned, gestures, scolds and does not even realize how Pep Guardiola is approaching from behind. It is a good tradition in England for the head coaches to shake hands first after the game is over. This is how German Klopp and Catalan Guardiola learned in all their years in the Premier League. But the Liverpool manager is so incensed by the carelessly missed opportunity at the last second that he forgets his colleague for a moment. Only then does he turn around and shake the opponent’s hand. Guardiola takes it sporty, the two get along well.
It was noticeable after the intense head game in which Mohamed Salah gave Liverpool a penalty in the 13th minute, which Gabriel Jesús later tied (31). Former Bremen and Wolfsburg Kevin De Bruyne missed a penalty for City just before the break (42nd). But the coaches had something else in mind. This was indicated when Guardiola said what the two had discussed after the handshake right after the game. “It was about the five substitutions. It is possible anywhere in the world, except here. We have often reminded ourselves. “
Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold had to be substituted in the second half due to a muscle injury to his right calf. Is it because of the crazy game schedule in the Corona crisis that players not only seem so tired now, at such an early point in the season, as they usually only appear in the final phase of a season? It’s not just a lack of energy, the injuries that continue to cause decimated teams are also on the rise. Klopp is missing half his defense, and the hugely important Virgil van Dijk and Fabinho are currently ill.
Guardiola was really furious with Sky Sports: “We don’t protect the players, that’s a disaster.” Alexander-Arnold, that is already clear without an accurate diagnosis, it will be canceled for the time being. He had to cancel for all three international matches in the next week and a half. And Klopp can only hope the injury isn’t so bad that his defensive worries get even worse. In some games it can cope with the lack of some support, in the long run not even Liverpool will be able to. And the German coach also got angry on Sunday.
The day before, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had given vent to his frustration. Manchester United had to play again after the Champions League game on Wednesday night in Istanbul in England in the first game on Saturday afternoon at 12.30pm Coach Solskjaer complained after the 3- 1 at Everton: “That was an impossible starting moment,” said the Norwegian. “How are guys supposed to do their best? It’s just an absolute joke! What’s the point of playing on Saturdays when that would also have been possible on Sunday? I cannot stress enough how difficult these times are. For everyone, not just footballers. “
Klopp quickly jumped to the side of Solskjaer. “I have spoken to the Premier League before,” he told BBC Sport. “The league has to change something, the television networks have to talk about that too. If everyone wants to see good football, you have to give the players a little more time, “he said. Klopp himself experienced how difficult such a program is. After the last international break, Liverpool got the game early on Saturday afternoon. “Some played in Peru on Wednesday night. So that is simply impossible. Someone has to start thinking about it now! “
In addition to all the excitement, the coaches also had reason to be happy. Because their teams showed a top game that absolutely deserved its name. “How we played and how we came back after falling behind was incredible,” Guardiola said. “I am proud of the players.” The difference was that Liverpool used their penalty, “and we did not.” Klopp was also happy: “It was a great football match with a high level of intensity. You could see everyone blowing after only 15 minutes. I am very satisfied with the few opportunities that we allow. “
