Jurgen Klopp shrugs off Diego Simeone’s handshake refusal as ‘dirty’ win is all that matters for Liverpool

Marc Mayo20 October 2021

Jurgen Klopp insisted there is no bad blood between himself and Diego Simeone after the Atletico Madrid coach refused his handshake after Liverpool’s win.

Mohamed Salah delivered all three points in a breathless Champions League clash on Tuesday night, the Egyptian’s late penalty making it 3-2 to make it three wins from three in Group B.

At the full-time whistle, Argentine coach Simeone darted down the tunnel to leave a bemused Klopp holding out his hand, after an intense 90 minutes in which he continued to rally his home fans.

The Reds boss told BT Sport: “The situation is clear, I wanted to shake his hand - he didn’t want to.

“His reaction was not good, mine was not so good as well but we are both emotional so when I see him next time, we will shake hands definitely.

“He was obviously angry - but not with me - [with] the game, the world... It’s nothing else.”

Antoine Griezmann dragged Atletico back into the match after two early Liverpool goals, but was sent off for a high foot that connected with Roberto Firmino’s face.

The LaLiga side were then denied a late penalty after Diogo Jota tangled with Jose Maria Gimenez, in a foul that was overturned after referee Daniel Siebert checked his VAR monitor.

Klopp said: “I think our penalty is a penalty, the other one is not. But I’ve not seen it very often where they give it and then take it back - I didn’t expect that but I think it’s the right decision.

“The red card is unlucky but in the end it’s a red card, we’ve had red cards like that in the past and it can happen.

Atletico Madrid v Liverpool FC: Group B - UEFA Champions League
Getty Images

“It was a tough game - how you win it, I couldn’t care less. The dirty ones are the really important ones. When we are flying we win the games anyway, but on a night like this getting three points is really massive.”

The win puts Liverpool on track for the last-16 and extends their unbeaten run to 21 games ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Manchester United.

The German noted: “It was the tough game we expected, we did surprisingly well at the beginning - we didn’t expect them that defensive.

“We scored two wonderful goals and played really good football. But at 2-0, Atletico obviously aren’t bothered about not having possession and we give the first goal away, it’s not necessary.

“The second goal as well was nice play but the gaps we gave away is just not alright. At 2-2, I like everyone else in the stadium thought this game was only going one way. But we gave it a proper try and played a really solid second-half.”

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