Sunday’s 2-2 Premier League match saw Jurgen Klopp play the role of mediator as he intervened to calm down Brighton & Hove Albion manager Roberto de Zerbi after the latter became enraged with spectators.
At the Amex Stadium, in the 69th minute, when Brighton was refused a penalty after Kaoru Mitoma’s effort touched the arm of Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, referee Anthony Taylor sent De Zerbi a yellow card for his protest.
After receiving a booking, the Italian manager kept objecting, so Klopp got involved and tried to calm him down.
“In the moment when he got a bit outraged I used my age and tried to calm him down,” 56-year-old Klopp, who has himself clashed with referees on numerous occasions in the past, told reporters.
“I just saw if I am in a moment like this, there’s a moment of no going back that appears.
“I think he was close to that and then I tried to calm him down. I am not sure if he needed it or not, you can ask him, but he probably told me something about the penalty, but I had no clue what he was talking about. I think he wanted a penalty…”
Asked about the incident, De Zerbi told reporters: “I love Klopp and he can do what he wants, because I have big respect for him and I consider him as one of the best coaches in the world,” De Zerbi told reporters.
“I like his behaviour and when he says something, 99 percent of the time I agree with him. In that situation, I think there was a clear penalty. I told the referee, I think in a good way, what I thought.”
