Back in 2018, Željko Buvač walked out on Jürgen Klopp just before Liverpool faced Roma in the Champions League Semi-Final.
The Bosnian had worked alongside the German since 2001, helping him succeed at Mainz 05, Borussia Dortmund and also at Anfield.
You would expect a pretty severe incident to have happened for a 17-year long partnership to end so suddenly, but Liverpool fans were never given an explanation beyond ‘personal reasons’.
Now, Klopp has spoken about Buvač again, but his comments still leave a lot to be desired.
What’s the story?
Well, speaking to Peter Hooton on BT Sport’s Boot Room Boys, the 54-year-old said: “We worked very close for a long time together and then it didn’t work out anymore and we brought in Pep Lijnders and Vitor (Matos) now. They are like energisers, they are the next generation.”
That is all well and good, but some comments from Buvač after Liverpool won the Premier League in 2020 still leaves plenty of mystery between the former friends.
Interestingly, the 60-year-old revealed he purposely didn’t congratulate Klopp, but did state he was happy for Liverpool and the fans.
The Bosnian added a further swipe at Klopp, stating that he was basically the manager for 17 years, aside from doing interviews for the media.
Goal quote him as saying: “I did the coaching job, with the exception of the interviews. It felt like I’ve been the manager for all those 17 years. I had all the functions and tried to influence my team as much as I could to help them succeed, but I didn’t need that kind of attention.”
Effectively, the man once described as “the brain” by Klopp had diminished the German’s coaching skills, and taken the credit for their successes together.
Jürgen Klopp and Željko Buvač situation will puzzle Liverpool fans
Whatever happened between the pair, Liverpool fans will surely want to know.
Of course, things are going well right now after Pep Lijnders and Vitor Matos arrived to replace Buvač, so some won’t be bothered.
However, for a 17-year long partnership to end so sourly, in the buildup to one of the biggest games in their careers together, is very strange.
We know a handful of the Anfield faithful still wonder about this situation, and will have been excited to read Klopp’s comments.
Unfortunately, the German failed to shed further light on the truth, so the mystery of Klopp and Buvač remains.
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