Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker has said that he didn’t speak to Manchester City counterpart Ederson about his last-second goal-line clearance on Sunday.
Alisson was on media duties ahead of Liverpool’s game with Benfica tomorrow. He answered the questions of the press via Liverpool FC on YouTube.
Asked whether the Brazilian goalkeeping rivals had discussed Ederson’s nonchalant clearance, Alisson said the pair had spoken about the game as a whole, but not the incident itself.
“We didn’t speak about that moment but we spoke a little bit after the match,” said the Liverpool ‘keeper. “We spoke about how intense the game was and how good the match was.”
Alisson shared that rather than talk about football, he had more important matters to discuss with the City stopper.
“(We spoke) about our kids as well! He didn’t go to the national team last time, so I asked how his family were and that’s it, not too much about football,” he said.
Mutual respect between champions
Alisson’s anecdote is another example of the mutual respect that exists between the great rivals of City and Liverpool.
As well as the obvious admiration that Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp have for each other, that clearly stretches to the players too.
Many, like Alisson and Ederson, are teammates for their respective countries. Others, such as Bernardo Silva and Fabinho, are former clubmates.
As fans, some may find such warm relations between rivals disconcerting. But the truth is that when two teams are so far ahead of the rest, and are so evenly matched, respect is the overriding emotion.
In Alisson’s case, he could be forgiven for not getting along with Ederson. The City goalkeeper has often displaced him as the number one choice for Brazil.
Ederson has also been Alisson’s main rival for individual awards like the Golden Glove and the Team of the Year. In most instances, Ederson has come out on top in those measurements, as well as collecting more silverware with his club.
But Ali is a lover not a fighter. It’s a mark of the man that he has such a good relationship with his biggest direct rival.
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