Jose Mourinho has said that he does not consider Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp a ‘friend’ but admits he has great respect for the German as both coaches prepare their sides for a tough Premier League duel on Thursday night.
The 58-year-old Portuguese manager will lead his side on a revenge mission as they welcome Liverpool; having lost the previous encounter 2 – 1 at Anfield thanks to Roberto Firmino’s late minute header.
The winner of today’s encounter will move into the top four ahead of West Ham, with Spurs boasting an additional game in hand.
Mourinho called out Klopp following the two teams’ clash in December, claiming that if he had acted in a similar fashion to the German on the sideline he would be sent off.
The Portuguese claimed that other top-tier managers are not treated in the same way as him.
“What I can say is when I didn’t behave well I paid the price,” he said. “And I paid the price in two ways: one was to see matches on TV in the dressing room and another price was big-money fines and I feel that, for some of the other guys, it doesn’t happen the same.
“It doesn’t happen the same with them.”
Following those comments, Mourinho went on to admit his respect for his Premier League and Champions League-winning counterpart, although he added that the pair do not share a friendship due to the brief nature of their meetings to date.
“I’m not a friend of Jurgen because I never had time with Jurgen,” 58-year-old Mourinho told the press. “When you know the person well you can say, ‘I like him, he’s my friend’ or ‘I don’t like him, he’s not my friend’.
“With Jurgen it’s five minutes before a match and five minutes after a match. What I can say about Jurgen is that he’s a colleague that I respect, that I don’t have any problem with.
“And I believe that he is the same way with me. No problems at all.”
Liverpool are just one point above Spurs in the league, while there is only eight points between first-placed Manchester City and sixth-placed Tottenham.
