THEY SAID IT...

“We don't like losing. We are bad losers. And we want to be bad losers so that we don't get used to this feeling; it's not a good feeling. But it is one of those that happen in football. This week, we have to train like a team that's lost 3-0, you know train very, very hard and knuckle down and try to prepare ourselves for what's going to be very difficult two games to go before the season ends.”

Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Rhulani Mokwena after their defeat by Stellenbosch in their last home game of the season.

"Outstanding, it was an incredible, intense game against Chelsea they would have deserved it exactly the same way. That's how small the margins are. I couldn't be more proud of my boys, the shift they put in, how hard they fought, the early changes. Then in the penalty shootout, it was nerve-racking, my nails are gone, but I really feel for Chelsea. We are mentality monsters, but there were mentality monsters in blue as well - it was one penalty. Chelsea played outstanding, but in the end there must be one winner and that was us today."

Jurgen Klopp after his Liverpool side stayed on course for the Big 4 by winning the FA Cup on Saturday.

"The players who come here don't come to play for me, they come to play in this league and for this club. It's so important the people, the way we play, the team we are, the city, where we are in the league, how we are expected to play in the Champions League the next season. Many things are involved. People come not just for a month or a year - what we do is make them feel happy in the city, in the locker room, playing in the Premier League and many things. After that, who knows what will happen. But this is the idea.”

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola plays down his influence in bringing Norwegian striker Erling Haaland to the club. City paid just 60-million Euros to trigger a release clause in Haaland’s contract with Borussia Dortmund.

“I listen to him complain a lot. He has to be focused more on his team and not to complain. He has just started this work and he has to be calm and to try to continue because he is very good, but to listen to a coach complain a lot of the time is not good. If we want to complain we have the possibility every time to speak about the referee, about the decision about the postponed game. This is my advice. If he wants to accept my advice, good, but otherwise I don’t care.”

Antonio Conte’s comments about Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta after Spurs beat them 3-0 last week looks sure to reignite a feud between the North London clubs.

“The morning of the semi-final with Germany, we were warming up near Dortmund when I saw these flashes of light coming from the trees nearby. I suspected some photographers were hiding and trying to get some insider information on our tactics. So I told my players about it, asked them to all line up with their backs to the trees and at my command, lean over and pull their shorts down. They did it and we all laughed. The fact that no photograph was published suggests there was no photographer, but at least we had fun, an indispensable element for a winning squad.”

Then Italy coach Marcello Lippi on an incident during the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, where the Italians beat France in the final.