Mark Clattenburg has lifted the lid on a spat he had with Jurgen Klopp that led to the former Premier League referee telling the German to 'f*ck off'. Joining Adebayo Akinfenwa for episode seven of the Beast Mode On Podcast, Clattenburg explained how Klopp had sought to blame the match official for a 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid, leading to a fiery response from the referee.

Getty Images SportMarcelo wanted a photo, Casemiro offered his shirt

Looking back at the aftermath of that Champions League quarter-final first leg in 2014, that ended in a heavy defeat for Dortmund, the 50-year-old says: "I remember Marcelo, the full-back from Real Madrid, asked for a picture. I've had players giving me shirts when I didn't even ask, I've had players talking to me after games, but he just wanted a picture. This was a part of me being accepted by them (elite professional footballers). They felt comfortable with me. If they see my name, Mark Clattenburg, refereeing a Champions League game, I would hope the players think: 'Thank God for that, I like that. We know he's not going to cause any problems'. I like that. So players felt comfortable with me." 

On being gifted Casemiro's shirt, Clattenburg adds: "I remember Casemiro, at Real Madrid, I refereed him in the U-20 World Cup in Colombia playing for Brazil. Didn't speak any English. And he signed for Real Madrid and I remember seeing his name on the team sheet and thinking: 'I know that name'. When I looked at him I said: 'I remember refereeing you in the semi-final in the U-20s'. Didn't speak any English and he just looked at me, came to shake my hand when he came off the bench and I'm thinking: 'This is bizarre'. After the game he's waiting for me outside my door and he's got his shirt and he's saying: 'Thank you, thank you', in broken English, and I'm thinking: 'That was nice, respect'."

AdvertisementAFPClattenburg tells Klopp to 'f*ck off' as pair clash in 2014

Clattenburg also discussed a heated row he had with Klopp following that photo exchange with Marcelo, with the ex-Liverpool boss, who was Dortmund manager at the time, blaming the referee for the loss. He says: "It was the wrong time [for Marcelo to ask for a photo after the game]. Klopp's walked past, probably humped that he's got beat 3-0, but he shouldn't have the gripe about me. He should be having the gripe about his team performance, because I wasn't the architect of the defeat. 

"As he's come past, he's said: 'That's why we got beat 3-0', and I thought: 'F*ck that, he's going to get Geordie banter back'. No, I'm not accepting that. I'm in the Bernabeu, I'm not stupid, I've got the protection of f*cking everybody around and he was on his own. I turned around and I said: 'You should be f*cking thankful you got beat 3-0, so f*ck off'. Everybody laughed. I was p*ssed off, that he had the f*cking… he thought I was the architect of him getting f*cking beat. There's right times and wrong times to speak… why did Klopp think it was f*cking acceptable to f*cking say that."

Getty Images SportEcstatic Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed Clattenburg's face

Clattenburg was chosen as the referee for the European Championship final back in 2016, a matter of weeks after he was the man in the middle for Real Madrid's Champions League final meeting with Atletico Madrid. Then-head coach Zinedine Zidane steered Real to a penalty shoot-out win over their city rivals that day, with Ronaldo scoring the winning spot-kick, and the Portuguese was also victorious at EURO 2016 – Eder's goal in extra-time sealing a 1-0 victory over France in the final.

The former Premier League referee recalls the moment he went up to collect his medal after full-time in the Stade de France, with Clattenburg having to tell Ronaldo to remove his hands from his face as he celebrated Portugal's triumph. He said: "As I was walking through [the tunnel created by Portugal players] Ronaldo grabs my face, and tries to shake it as a way of congratulations. And I'm like: 'Ronaldo, get off my face I'm on live TV', and he just laughed. [In terms of] the respect back, [Lionel] Messi didn't speak much English so it was easier to communicate with Cristiano than it was Messi but I didn't referee Messi in major finals, so it was different. I never refereed Barcelona, for example, [in finals] only in semi-finals in the Champions League, which they were successful in. If they win, the pressure's different."

Watch the Beast Mode On Podcast episode with guest Mark Clattenburg

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