Jurgen is a colleague that I respect, says Mourinho ahead of Liverpool clash

Ahead of the Premier League clash against Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho said he is not a friend of the defending champions' boss Jurgen Klopp.

"I'm not a friend of Jurgen because I never had time with Jurgen. When you know the person well you can say, 'I like him, he's my friend' or 'I don't like him, he's not my friend'," Goal.com quoted Mourinho as saying.

"With Jurgen, it's five minutes before a match and five minutes after a match. What I can say about Jurgen is that he's a colleague that I respect, that I don't have any problem with. And I believe that he is the same way with me. No problems at all," he added.

Mourinho called out Klopp following the two teams' clash in December, claiming that if he had acted in a similar fashion to the German on the sideline he would be sent off.

"What I can say is when I didn't behave well I paid the price. And I paid the price in two ways: one was to see matches on TV in the dressing room and another price was big-money fines and I feel that, for some of the other guys, it doesn't happen the same. It doesn't happen the same with them," Mourinho said.

Spurs and Liverpool are separated by a solitary point in England's top flight, with there being only eight points between first-placed Manchester City and sixth-placed Tottenham.

( With inputs from ANI )