Ronald Koeman hits out at Klopp's Madrid training pitch jibe
Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp was unimpressed at having to play Tuesday's Champions League quarterfinal first leg at Alfredo di Stefano stadium, where his team lost 3-1.
Published : Apr 09, 2021 19:08 IST
Real Madrid found an unlikely ally in Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman, who hit out at Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp after he labelled Madrid's Alfredo di Stefano stadium a training pitch.
Klopp was unimpressed at having to play Tuesday's Champions League quarterfinal first leg at the Di Stefano, where his side lost 3-1.
Madrid has played at the Di Stefano, which is situated in its training base, since last June with renovations taking place at its usual Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Barca travels there on Saturday in the Clasico as the La Liga title race heats up, but Koeman rejected the notion that the pitch could play a part.
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He suggested that the fact there will be no fans in attendance will make a far greater difference. "It's disparaging to a big club like Madrid (to say it is a training pitch), they've chosen the time to do renovation works at their stadium and they've chosen well," Koeman said.
"Madrid are used to playing on that football pitch and the opponents have to play there, and that's that. For players the tough thing is playing without any fans."
The Catalans sit just one point behind league leader Atletico Madrid, with Real a further two points back in third. However, given the amount of games remaining this season, Koeman insisted that a loss for either side would not be decisive in the title run-in.
"The result won't be decisive, there's a lot more games to go and any side will have difficulties in winning all their remaining games. Having said that it will be a boost for the winners to push on," he said.
Koeman welcomes back defenders Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto for the game, however long-term absentees Philippe Coutinho and Ansu Fati remain out.