- Mark Clattenburg and Jurgen Klopp had a fiery run-in after one particular match
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The relationship between a football manager and a referee is often a strained one and former official Mark Clattenburg has revealed a tense and bizarre exchange he once had with Jurgen Klopp.
The duo did not always see eye-to-eye in the Premier League when Klopp was at Liverpool, but this incident pre-dates the German’s time in England.
In fact, the pair swapped pleasantries for expletives after Clattenburg officiated a Champions League tie during Klopp’s spell as Borussia Dortmund boss in April 2014.
As one of England’s most experienced referees, Clattenburg was tasked with Dortmund’s quarter-final first leg at Real Madrid – which they subsequently lost 3-0.
Goals from Gareth Bale, Isco and Cristiano Ronaldo saw the Spanish giants cruise to an easy win but it was a post-match act by Clattenburg that worsened Klopp’s mood.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet, the ex-official revealed how a request from Real left-back Marcelo – who was injured at the time – sparked a war of words between himself and Klopp.
Mark Clattenburg has opened up on angry exchange he once had with Jurgen Klopp
The former referee was speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet
The match in question was Real Madrid’s 3-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in April 2014
Klopp was angry after Clattenburg accepted Real’s then-injured left back Marcelo’s request
Clattenburg and Klopp would have more run-ins when the latter became Liverpool manager
‘I had a big run-in with Jurgen but I was lucky because it was at Real Madrid, he was the Dortmund manager and they’d just been beaten 3-0,’ he reminisced.
‘I thought I had a good game. It was Marcelo, the full-back, crazy, but he says, “Can I have a picture?”. I’m like, “What with me?” and he said, “Yeah, can I have a picture?”. Referees never get pictures with players.
‘I said, “Yeah, of course”. And I’m standing outside my dressing room, and his wife was there and some of his family – and Jurgen came past, and he went, “F***ing hell. Is that why we got beat f***ing 3-0?”.
‘I turned around and I said “You’re f***** lucky that you got beat 3-0, f*** off”. Everybody laughed but I was pleased I was in Real Madrid and not Dortmund, because I would have had to get out of Dortmund alive.’
That dialogue may have proven as motivation for Klopp in the return leg as Dortmund won 2-0 – a scoreline that wasn’t enough though as Real prevailed 3-2 on aggregate.
Eighteen months later and Klopp joined Liverpool – sparking more regular run-ins with Clattenburg.
