Jurgen Klopp wasn't happy with the referee after Liverpool's 1-1 draw with West Ham United but Manuel Pellegrini wasn't having any of it, revealing a wonderful six year grudge against Klopp and refs.
Less than a week ago it looked like Liverpool were going to stretch their lead at the top of the table to seven points. The Reds had seen Manchester City lose against Newcastle United and were playing Leicester City at Anfield on Wednesday night.
Jurgen Klopp's side drew with Leicester, taking their lead to five points, and after City beat Arsenal at the weekend they dropped more points against West Ham on Monday night, drawing 1-1, to leave the gap at just three points.
The Reds opened the scoring with a contentious goal in which James Milner was offside in the build up before he assisted Sadio Mane.
Advert
Despite seemingly getting the advantage from the refereeing decision Klopp wasn't happy with the man in black saying, "I heard our goal was offside, I'm pretty sure the ref knew that. In 50-50 situations it was always a free-kick for the other team, which was hard and did not make life easy, suggesting Kevin Friend was trying to even things up.
West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini had a brilliant response though bringing up his past with the German saying:
"Klopp is used to winning with offside goals. He beat me against Malaga with a goal seven metres offside - so he cannot complain about anything.
"They scored a goal one metre offside. And in the last minute with Origi in front of the linesman, again one metre offside."
Pellegrini was referencing a Champions League game from April 2013. Then the Chilean was manager of Malaga and Klopp was still in charge of Borussia Dortmund.
Advert
Malaga were 2-1 up heading into injury time when Dortmund scored twice in two minutes to go through to the semi finals.
The German's third goal was offside and Malaga would have gone through on away goals after a 0-0 draw in the first leg.
Pellegrini was also happy to help his former club adding, "I said in the week that we need to win this game for our fans and if we are going to give a hand to Manchester City, well, they are my club also.
Advert
"Maybe that was the reason the manager of Liverpool didn't like it."
Any man holding a football grudge for that long and then bringing it up when it suits him several years later should be applauded, fair play Manuel.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Liverpool, Football News, Premier League, West Ham United, Borussia Dortmund, Jurgen Klopp, West Ham, Champions League
