Paris Saint-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel has insisted that he understands Jurgen Klopp’s frustrations after Liverpool’s loss in their Champions League clash.
The Reds fell to a 2-1 defeat in the French capital on Wednesday night, leaving them needing a win over Napoli in their final group game to advance to the knockout stage.
While they certainly weren’t at their best, Klopp was also left bitterly frustrated with what he saw from the PSG players in terms of their actions to win free-kicks while he also blasted the officials, as seen in the video below of his post-match interview with BT Sport.
On one hand, Tuchel has conceded that he understands why his former colleague at Borussia Dortmund was upset, but also believes that it’s a tactic to take the focus away from his side’s performance.
“When I lose a big game I am angry and always in a bad mood, and I will talk about other stuff to bring attention away from my team also. I hear Jurgen has his opinion and that’s fine. I’m talking about the game,” he is quoted as saying by The Mirror.
“I don’t feel it is such a big issue. We suffered a lot of fouls. You don’t have to commit a lot of fouls, especially if you are 1-0 down. If you are 1-0 down then don’t commit 10 fouls in the next 10 minutes.
“I didn’t experience it this way around. If it is a big match and you lose then I am always in a bad mood. So if he was, then I understand. I know him very well and I don’t take this personally.”
Evidently, he didn’t think his players made the most of fouls from the Liverpool players, and that will undoubtedly be a contentious point as Neymar in particular came under scrutiny from pundits and supporters alike after the game for his theatrics in winning free-kicks.
Nevertheless, although he has dismissed Klopp’s complaints to an extent, it’s unlikely to spark any war of words with his compatriot moving forward while Tuchel was always going to defend his players anyway and so Klopp wouldn’t have expected anything else.
Jürgen Klopp is not a happy man….? pic.twitter.com/mfGY8olEcv
— Anfield HQ (@AnfieldHQ) November 28, 2018
