Jurgen Klopp: Gerrard Reveals He Had Pints and Smoke With Liverpool Boss Before Champions League Final

Jurgen Klopp: Gerrard Reveals He Had Pints and Smoke With Liverpool Boss Before Champions League Final

Elijah Odetokun
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:29 PM
In this article:
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UEFA UCL
Europe
  • Liverpool played their third UEFA Champions League final under Jurgen Klopp last year
  • The Reds lost to Real Madrid for the second time under the German manager
  • Club legend Steven Gerrard reveals what the manager was up to just days before the game in Paris

Liverpool have reached three UEFA Champions League finals since Jurgen Klopp took over the reins at the club in 2015, lost two and won the 2019 edition.

Klopp's nightmare in the competition is 14-time champion Real Madrid, who have denied the German twice in the final in 2018 and 2022. Los Blancos have also eliminated Liverpool from this year's competition.

The former Borussia Dortmund manager led the club to reaching the final of every competition they participated in last season, winning the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and losing out to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

Steven Gerrard, Liverpool, Jürgen Klopp, UEFA Champions League.
Steven Gerrard reveals details of meeting with Jürgen Klopp before last year's UEFA Champions League final. Photos by Mateo Villalba/Rob Newell.
Source: Getty Images

However, days before the night in Paris, Klopp was caught up in a bar mood with former Reds captain Steven Gerrard who was still Aston Villa manager at that time, as reported by Sun UK.

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Klopp met Gerrard at bar

Gerrard and Klopp met at a bar in Merseyside while the manager was walking his dog and decided to stay and spend some time with the former Rangers boss.

“He was walking the dog, I was sitting outside with one of my friends having a couple of pints. I shouted over to wish him good luck, because he had a Champions League final days later. I thought he’d be in the zone,” he told The Anfield Wrap.
“He said to me: ‘No, no, no. Go to the bar and get me a pint.’ So we got him a pint. He ended up having two or three, he had a couple of smokes, his dog waited patiently, and we had a good craic for probably over an hour about football, about life in Liverpool, his plans for the future.”

Klopp blasts pitch invader

Klopp could be friendly and could also get angry. He blasted a pitch invader who nearly injured left- back Andy Robertson during Liverpool's 7-0 rout of Manchester United, as Sports Brief earlier reported.

The fan evaded security and collided with the Scottish defender, who sat down a few seconds with what looked like he had been injured but could carry on.

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Elijah Odetokun photo
Elijah Odetokun
Elijah Odetokun is Reuters-trained journalist with three years of experience having previously worked at Daily Times Nigeria, OmaSports and El Futbolero.
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