Pep bemoans ref but pays Klopp the ultimate compliment…

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Pep Guardiola thinks Manchester City were harshly done by the referees over two legs, but has admitted the better team won.

City had three shots on target over 180 minutes and lost 5-1 on aggregate, so we really don’t think the officials actually changed the result of the tie.

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Jurgen Klopp has become the first manager to ever beat Guardiola three times in one season, having won both the Champions League games and a Premier League tie at Anfield, too.

In total, Klopp’s beat Pep seven times out of 13, far more than any other manager on the planet.

“In these kind of games, in these competitions, the impact is so big. At Anfield the first goal from (Mohamed) Salah is offside. The goal from Gabriel Jesus in Anfield was a goal, not offside,” he told the Lancashire Telegraph.

I should say big congratulations to Liverpool for going through,” he said. “Hopefully they can defend English football in the semi-finals.

“They are a top team with a top manager and I would say they deserve to be in the final.

“But we made an outstanding 45 minutes, really good. A big congratulations to the players for this competition because it was so good.”

City have enjoyed a brilliant season, in which they’ll win two trophies, but Klopp masterminded a deserved and unexpected victory in the Champions League.

The German has maximised the potential of virtually all the players in his current starting XI, which is an enormous feat.

Who would have said the likes of Loris Karius, Dejan Lovren, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson, Gini Wijnaldum and James Milner would have been capable of outplaying their far more illustrious and expensive rivals?

Klopp, actually.

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