EPL: Klopp opens up on Mane’s disrespect after Liverpool’s 4-1 win at Old Trafford

Liverpool boss, Jurgen Klopp has defended his forward, Sadio Mane after the Senegalese snubbed him.

Mane snubbed Klopp after their victory over Manchester United on Thursday evening.

Klopp kept Mane on the bench and brought him on with 16 minutes to stoppage time as Liverpool beat United 4-2 at Old Trafford with goals from Roberto Firmino (2) plus goals from Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah.

But as the teams returned to the tunnel after the final whistle, Mane refused the offer of a handshake from the Liverpool manager. He walked away shaking his head.

The Senegal international has been heavily criticised for disrespecting his boss but the German tactician has continued to play down the incident.

“The thing is, if somebody shows me respect five million times and one time he doesn’t, what is more important?” Klopp said during his press conference on Friday.

“The world is in a situation where it makes that one time bigger than necessary. That’s unfortunately the case.

“I hope for you that your boss will not forget, if you don’t show him respect one time that he then does not forget the other stuff.

“Even when I speak now about that already I can see the headlines you are making out of it.

“But that’s not the case, I’m completely relaxed about it. If you had seen me as a player, what I did out of emotion was insane, and I’m a completely normal guy.

“We’ll talk about it and it’ll be sorted, that’s all.”

He was asked if Mane has apologised, and Klopp added, “You have a really nice job, that’s the thing you are most interested in.

“Football is an emotional game, and everybody expects us to control our emotions always and it doesn’t always work out, that’s the case.

“It happened to me as a player, it happened to other players when I was their coach, we’ve so far had no real chance to talk about it but we will and there will be nothing left, everything will be fine.

“These things happen, it’s not the first time in my life and I’m afraid to say it won’t be the last time.”

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