Six times UEFA Champions League winners Liverpool are currently in Thailand for their pre-season games and their head coach Jurgen Klopp has already thrown a cheeky dig at Manchester United.
The Reds and the Red Devils will be involved in a friendly game on Tuesday as part of their pre-season tour. Liverpool arrived in Bangkok on Saturday and was greeted by up to 1,000 fans in the country while Man United landed on Friday in the same city.
However, just a few fans came out to greet the Man United team when they arrived at the airport. Jurgen Klopp noticed the difference in the fans turn up for the two teams and couldn’t resist talking about it during an interview. The German said: “First question I have, did it look like this yesterday when Manchester United were here?”
Manchester United and Liverpool have been bitter rivals since the history of the English Premier League and their meeting won’t be a friendly but a continuation of their rivalry. The pre-season game will be played in the 52,000-seat Rajamangala National Stadium which has already been sold out.
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Jurgen Klopp: “First question I have, did it look like this yesterday when Manchester [United] were here?” pic.twitter.com/KrfvYhkBVZ
And Klopp stated it will be a fierce encounter despite only pride being at stake. He added: “Manchester United – a new manager, trained a little bit longer than us so might be in a better situation. But we see it as an important test because it’s against United and we don’t play friendlies.
“Obviously both teams don’t play friendlies against each other, so we will see what we can do.”
Both sides will be seeking to start their preseason on a winning note in order to be ready for the next Premier League season. While Sadio Mane won’t be there, Liverpool will be watching to see what newcomers Darwin Nunez, Fabio Carvalho, and Calvin Ramsey can provide. United will be watching Tyrell Malacia in the opposite red corner but will mostly be interested in seeing the design of Ten Hag’s United.
The absence of Cristiano Ronaldo from the Man United team could be the reason why few supporters came to welcome them. The Portugal hitman is yet to return to training as he claims that he’s having some family issues. Ronaldo had earlier requested to leave the club because of their poor performance last season and slow business in the summer transfer window.
However, Erik ten Hag and Manchester United authorities have already stated that the player won’t leave this summer even though he has just one year left in his contract.
Clubs like Chelsea and Bayern Munich are interested in signing him but Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn has made it clear that the star player won’t join them because he doesn’t fit into their philosophy.
