Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has revealed his true thoughts on Sergio Ramos when speaking to Toni Kroos.
Klopp, 57, left his role as Liverpool manager at the end of the 2023-24 season after nine seasons at the club.
Since then, he has been linked with several managerial roles but recently accepted a new job as global head of soccer at The Red Bull Group, for which he has received criticism from fans of his former club Mainz.
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Their supporters displayed a banner before their Bundesliga fixture against RB Leipzig – owned by the group – on October 19, which read: “Have you forgotten everything we made you become?"
A second said: “Are you crazy?"
However, Klopp has since defended his position.
For now, the German will not take on a managerial role in the near future, but even if he never graces the touchline again, his achievements match up to some of the all-time greats.
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During his Liverpool years, his main rivals for domestic success were Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, with Real Madrid proving to be his nemesis on the European stage.
Klopp recently discussed the rivalry between the two European giants.
The German saw Madrid beat his Liverpool side 3-1 in the 2018 Champions League final in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Four years later, it was a similar story as Madrid ran out 1-0 winners in Paris, France.
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During the 2018 final, Madrid centre-back Ramos pulled down Liverpool’s starman Mohamed Salah near the halfway line.
As a result, the forward injured his shoulder and was withdrawn on the half-hour mark. The challenge was criticised by some fans, and Klopp himself has seemingly not forgiven the Spaniard.
“If you see him again and you’re not from Real Madrid, you think he’s ruthless and brutal,” Klopp told Kroos while speaking on Einfach mal Luppen.
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“If you put together all of Ramos’ actions, and I’ve watched football since I was five years old, you’ll see that a lot of things happen with Ramos.
“I think in a situation like Ramos with Salah, someone needs to judge it better. With VAR, it is a situation that you have to look at again… I don’t think Mo would have always gotten hurt in that situation.
“This time, he was unlucky. I don’t know if it will be something that we will see again: elbowing the goalkeeper, knocking down an opponent like a wrestler in the centre of the field and then winning the game.”
Even Kroos, who played alongside Ramos for the best part of a decade, admitted that the action was “brutal”.
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“Is Mr. Sergio Ramos really a good guy?” asked Klopp.
“He is not my favourite player. The action was brutal. Of course, he can’t know it’s going to hurt his shoulder, but we all know he accepted it very happily. I could never understand that mentality, I never had players like that, and, when I did, I made sure they left.”
Although Kroos later explained how Ramos was a “good teammate”.
Topics: Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp, Sergio Ramos, Real Madrid, Champions League, Mohamed Salah, VAR
Luke Davies