Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool were involved in multiple Premier League title battles with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City
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Jurgen Klopp appears to have adopted a softer stance regarding whether he would celebrate any Premier League titles awarded to his former Liverpool side should Manchester City be stripped of their domestic honours.
The manager, now working as Germany coach, was asked for his response following the explosive verdict published on Tuesday. That finding saw City found guilty of all the serious financial charges brought against them by the Premier League relating to 2009-18, a time when City built a squad that dominated English football — often at Liverpool's expense.
Speaking at a news conference late on Wednesday, Klopp said: "I know I once said something that I’d come if there was ever a parade, but it doesn’t feel like that now. I don’t feel like I need to have my bus parade. I can wait and stay totally relaxed."
Klopp won the Premier League on one occasion during his spell with Liverpool, taking the title in the 2019-20 season. His team also finished runner-up to Pep Guardiola's City side by just a single point in both 2018-19 and 2021-22, following memorable title races that raised standards and points tallies to historic levels.
The coach explained that his respect for Guardiola, who managed City from 2016 until leaving the club this summer, had not altered.
Klopp insists he still has huge respect for Pep Guardiola
Klopp insists he still has huge respect for Pep Guardiola (Reuters)
"My respect for Pep Guardiola and the football that City played in the time when we played against each other, what they played on the field, the opponents they were at the top level, is much too high for me to say anything now," Klopp said. "If there are some punishments handed down, then it’s obviously not anything to do with me so I’ll just wait. I’m completely OK about what happened and what we achieved."
Klopp had previously struck a more jokey tone in January 2025 when asked how he might react if City were stripped of titles after being found to have breached Premier League regulations.
At the time, while working as head of global soccer at Red Bull, Klopp remarked: "If it would happen, I told all the people who wanted to, ‘Just book a flight to Mallorca. I will buy the beer!’ We’d have our own parade in my garden."
His latest observations were made prior to Germany's international match against Serbia in Munich on Thursday, where he will aim to avoid setting the unwanted record of becoming the first coach to fail to win any of their first three matches with Germany's men's national team.