Diego Simeone doesn't like shaking hands with opposition managers after the game because he feels it brings about a "falseness".
Last month, after Liverpool beat Atletico Madrid 3-2 at the Wanda Metropolitano, Simeone refrained from shaking hands with Jurgen Klopp and instead darted down the tunnel.
Klopp was left looking a little confused as a result, hilariously holding his thumb up as he waited for Simeone.
Simeone was accused of being disrespectful in snubbing his counterpart but it's emerged that he does not do the "UK custom" post-match handshake whatever the circumstance due to the emotions.
Thus, he won't be shaking hands again tonight at Anfield.
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"I don’t like the greeting after the match because they are the emotions of two sides in different emotional minds," Simeone said.
“I know in the UK it is a custom but I don’t share it and I don’t like the falseness it may include.
“I don’t know Klopp as a person very well but I know he is a great coach who has done great work at every club he has been at.”
Simeone and Klopp have embraced previously, with the former initially going for a handshake but switching to an elbow in some pre-match awkwardness in March 2020.
And in response to Simeone's comments, Klopp said he has no issue with the former Lazio midfielder's stance on handshakes and wouldn't have tried it had he known before the game a fortnight ago.
"I respect him a lot,” said Klopp.
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“We don’t know each other but I respect what he is doing at Atletico, absolutely exceptional against strong sides year after year. Really impressive.
“The handshake? If I knew he doesn’t do it, then I wouldn’t try it.
“We were both emotional [after the game in Madrid] but now I know he doesn’t like to do it, so no problem.
“Then we can all go home happy but between the handshakes, it’s an important game, which I am more concerned about.”
Featured Image Credit: Image: PATopics: Diego Simeone, Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp
