Liverpool assistant boss Pepijn Lijnders has admitted that Jurgen Klopp wins most games of padel tennis when the pair play, but does not want the German to hear him say so for fear it will have him strutting around like Conor McGregor.
Klopp is a firm fan of the sport and regularly goes up against Lijnders in the court which has been built at the Reds' training base.
The pair first started playing at a training camp in Tenerife in 2016 and Lijnders feels it offers both Klopp and himself welcome chance to unwind.
He feels it also encourages creative thinking when it comes to solving problems, with the two regularly talking during breaks in play.
Lijnders admits that Klopp does tend to win most of the games they play against each other, but does not want the German to hear his words for fear it will grow his ego.
"Uh, Jurgen", Lijnders told Dutch daily the Algemeen Dagblad when asked who wins the most often.
"But don't say that out loud or he'll be walking around like Conor McGregor, that Irish MMA fighter.
"Solutions to problems also arise during competitions. Then you sit on a bench between two sets and you start talking to each other.
"Now that I think about it, it happens quite often.
"If you are constantly busy with the next game and don't have weekends to relax, these are the perfect moments to unwind.
"We play one on one, although padel should be four. You can't blame anyone like that if you lose", the Dutchman added.
Lijnders initially joined Liverpool in 2015 as a development coach, progressing to work with the first team.
He left to take over as coach of Dutch side NEC Nijmegen in January 2018, but returned to Liverpool in the summer of the same year after being given a senior role on Klopp's backroom staff.
