Jurgen Klopp has paid tribute to Diego Maradona following his sudden death.
The 1986 World Cup winner, widely considered to be one of the greatest players of all-time, passed away on Wednesday in his native Argentina.
Liverpool held a period of silence in memory of Maradona before their Champions League group stage encounter against Atalanta at Anfield.
Speaking ahead of the match, Klopp revealed that a personal admiration for the late 60-year-old dated back to his youth
“I’m 53 years old and it feels like my entire life, he was part of it,” he told BT Sport.
“When I was very, very young – maybe eight or nine, 10 years old – I saw him for the first time and he was 16 or 17.
“In any video, juggling the ball, from that moment on he was the player for me.
“It’s like, from an international point of view there’s Pele, Maradona, [Lionel] Messi, if you want – one Brazilian and two Argentinians.
“I saw his documentary not too long ago; Diego was a sensational guy, Maradona had some struggles, let me say it like this. I will miss both.”