I drive Pep mad …but I like him!

REDS BOSS KLOPP OPENS UP ON RIVALRY WITH GUARDIOLA

IT IS one of the great managerial rivalries in football history.

But Jurgen Klopp says there is one key difference between his epic bouts with Pep Guardiola and the other battles of the bosses that have detonated the Premier League

– he likes his adversary.

The two head-to-head once more Anfield, with remarkable record of nine wins each – and three draws – since they first locked horns in Germany in 2013.

In the Premier League, the great rivalries have tended to involve Sir Alex Ferguson, with the key feature one of searing hostility towards

Kenny Dalglish, Kevin Keegan, Arsene Wenger or Rafa Benitez.

Yet Klopp says he does not feel the same towards Guardiola.

“It’s true. I’m not sure if I ever told Pep, but I like him,” said Klopp. “I annoy him with things I say in press conferences that are not meant to say anything bad about him or Man City.

“Somebody on the City staff tells him that, ‘Klopp said this’ and I can see in his conference he gets really angry. Sorry for that.

“No, I respect him a lot. I want to win desperately, he wants to do that, and we are completely different personalities but, nonetheless, I like him and I respect him.”

Ferguson had decades of feuding, his most famous with Wenger when Arsenal’s Invincibles’ challenged

Manchester United’s dominance. Klopp’s

Liverpool have done that with Guardiola, and also in Germany when his Dortmund resisted the might of Bayern Munich.

Their record in two countries is breathlessly level. Klopp and Guardiola have won four apiece in Germany, while both have won five each since the battle was reignited in England in 2016.

But the pair have mixed socially, and Klopp revealed: “Two years ago, we had a few situations where we went together to Manchester for awards – and our families met.

“And I can tell you that somebody with a family like Pep Guardiola must be a good person, because Mrs and the kids are outstanding and that is what is important to me. So during the game, whatever he says and whatever I say, it is not that important.” In fact, Klopp says he is inspired by the rivalry with Guardiola.

“It’s really one of the biggest challenges for all managers in football to face Pep’s teams because they are so good. I like that because it is one of those games where people say the Premier League, Bundesliga, Champions League is on this [other] level – there is no mercy for mistakes.

“If you make a mistake you get punished, and that is pretty much the game against Man City always.

“But if you don’t [make mistakes] – at least when you are Liverpool – then you have a chance and I think it is interesting to give it a try.”

Klopp says the key is to stop City possession.

“They have different possible organisations, a clear structure with some changes from time to time,” he said. “The main thing is to keep the ball as long as possible.”

Things I say in the press do annoy him