Klopp Says Referee Tierney Has Something ‘Against’ Liverpool

Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - April 30, 2023 Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp celebrates after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - April 30, 2023 Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp celebrates after the match. (Reuters)
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Klopp Says Referee Tierney Has Something ‘Against’ Liverpool

Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - April 30, 2023 Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp celebrates after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - April 30, 2023 Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp celebrates after the match. (Reuters)

Juergen Klopp accused referee Paul Tierney of having something "against" Liverpool after their thrilling 4-3 Premier League win over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Liverpool led 3-0 after 15 minutes but were pegged back to 3-3 when Richarlison headed past Alisson in stoppage time, with Klopp protesting a free-kick awarded to Tottenham in the build-up to the equalizer.

Diogo Jota then scored Liverpool's winner a minute later and Klopp confronted the fourth official before racing down the touchline to celebrate - for which he was shown a yellow card by Tierney.

Klopp has criticized Tierney in the past, saying he should have shown Spurs striker Harry Kane a red card for a dangerous tackle in a meeting between the sides in 2021, and on Sunday the German manager said Liverpool have "history" with the referee.

"I really don't know what he has against us," Klopp told Sky Sports. "He has said there is no problems but that cannot be true.

"How he looks at me, I don't understand it ... My celebration was unnecessary, which is fair, but what he said to me when he gave me the yellow card is not OK."

Klopp did not provide further details on the incident.

Referee's body PGMOL said they were aware of Klopp's comments, adding: "Match officials in the Premier League are recorded in all games via a communications system.

"Having fully reviewed the audio of referee Paul Tierney from today's fixture, we can confirm he acted in a professional manner throughout, including when issuing the caution to the Liverpool manager so, therefore, we strongly refute any suggestion that Tierney's actions were improper."

Klopp has been punished for comments about referees in the past. He was fined 45,000 pounds ($56,502) by the FA in 2019 for remarks about Kevin Friend.



Gasly Puts Alpine on Top in First Saudi F1 Practice

 Alpine driver Pierre Gasly of France steers his car during the first free practice ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP)
Alpine driver Pierre Gasly of France steers his car during the first free practice ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP)
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Gasly Puts Alpine on Top in First Saudi F1 Practice

 Alpine driver Pierre Gasly of France steers his car during the first free practice ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP)
Alpine driver Pierre Gasly of France steers his car during the first free practice ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP)

Pierre Gasly was surprise top of the timesheets for Renault-owned Alpine in first practice for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Friday.

The French driver lapped the super-fast Jeddah Corniche circuit with a best time of one minute 29.239 seconds, 0.007 quicker than McLaren's Formula One leader Lando Norris could manage.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was third, 0.070 off the leading pace, with McLaren's Australian Oscar Piastri, winner in Bahrain last weekend and only three points behind Norris after four races, fourth.

The session, run in the late afternoon sunshine on the shores of the Red Sea, was largely unrepresentative of the conditions for Saturday's qualifying and Sunday's race, which is held at night.

The session still served as a useful measure of driver confidence on a daunting track that rewards the gradual building up of pace.

Alex Albon was fifth for Williams with George Russell sixth fastest for Mercedes, ahead of Williams' Carlos Sainz and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.

Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen, last year's winner in Jeddah, was ninth and teammate Yuki Tsunoda completed the top 10.

Gasly's Australian rookie teammate Jack Doohan was 16th.

Haas's Oliver Bearman, who made his F1 debut with Ferrari as a stand-in last year, was 18th after a brush with the wall at turn one. He continued without damage.