"THEY WERE IN A GOOD WAY, THEN SOMETHING HAPPENED"
Jurgen Klopp's unmistakable brand of zany pre-match merriment has become one of the Premier League's most endearing features since he arrived at Liverpool last October.
Nevertheless, the giggles, gurns and self-deprecation flowing as normal in the build-up to Saturday's second-plays-third clash with Manchester City feels significant.
On New Year's Eve, Klopp will come face-to-face with Pep Guardiola once more – a man synonymous with, among many other things, hastening the end of his golden period at Borussia Dortmund.
From Bayern Munich pilfering Mario Gotze before Guardiola had his feet under the table at the Allianz Arena, to Robert Lewandowski making the same journey from Signal Iduna Park the following season, it always felt like the dice were loaded heavily against Klopp once the Catalan was in town.