Klopp shocked by 'sensational' City's Europe ban

SHOWS:

NORWICH, ENGLAND, UK (FEBRUARY 15, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JUERGEN KLOPP, LIVERPOOL COACH, SAYING:

"To be honest I feel for Pep and the players because, wow, they did for sure nothing wrong, they just played football and sensational football. Wherever Pep was he helped each league to improve football, but then again we have to respect some rules, and I have no idea if they did or not but obviously UEFA sees it like this, that they didn't and we'll see what happens."

2. WHITE FLASH

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JUERGEN KLOPP, LIVERPOOL COACH, SAYING:

"It was a shock when I heard it, saw it, someone sent me the headline. I have no idea how these kind of things, how it works, how it happens but what I can say as a football coach is that Man City under Pep Guardiola play sensational and that's how it is. I've always admired what they do, what he's doing, what they do and that will not end with this moment, obviously but I can imagine it's hard, it's really hard at the moment for the sports people, you trust your people, they tell you it's all fine and obviously UEFA sees that slightly different and now they have to deal with it, I have no what will happen next."

STORY: Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said on Saturday (February 15) he had sympathy for his Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola in the wake of the English champions' two-year ban from European football dished out by UEFA for allegedly breaching Financial Fair Play rules.

With City's domestic title challenge all but over, with Liverpool 25 points ahead after beating Norwich City 1-0 away on Saturday, Klopp said the news on Friday about the European ban for the Manchester club had taken him by surprise.

European soccer's governing body UEFA said City had committed "serious breaches" of its FFP regulations by "overstating its sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information submitted to UEFA between 2012 and 2016."

City denied any wrongdoing and said they will appeal to the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Klopp's side now have a 25 point lead over Guardiola's team in the Premier League, Sadio Mane marking his return from injury with a late goal to beat bottom side Norwich City 1-0.

It was his first appearance since going off injured in Liverpool's win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Jan. 23 and he marked it by claiming a 100th goal in English football.

Victory was Liverpool's 34th in their last 35 league games and their 17th in succession, one shy of Manchester City's record.