Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists there will always be respect between him and Pep Guardiola

Inevitably the matches will increase the scrutiny on two managers – both of whom are not frightened to voice their opinion - with so much at stake

Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola will go head to head in the Champions League (Getty)

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists his relationship with Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola will remain one of “respect” despite the pressure cooker of a Champions League tie between the two clubs.

City and Liverpool were the only Premier League sides left in the European Cup and were paired together in quarter-final draw on Friday.

Inevitably the matches will increase the scrutiny on two managers – both of whom are not frightened to voice their opinion - with so much at stake.

Liverpool have not won a major trophy since 2012 and should they end the season without one then it will represent longest spell without silverware since the 1950s.

City are two wins away from wrapping up with the Premier League title, although it has been well documented that the Champions League is a trophy the club’s owners yearn for.

In the mid-2000s Rafael Benitez and Jose Mourinho developed a mutual loathing for each other against a backdrop of European encounters while in charge of Liverpool and Chelsea respectively.

It was put to Klopp that familiarity can frequently breed contempt in management although it is the German’s hope he can stay cordial with Guardiola.

Rafa Benitez and Jose Mourinho had a number of spats (Getty)

“During a game he is always 100 per cent in, I am 100 per cent in,” Klopp said, ahead of Liverpool's clash with Watford.

“So far we have never had an argument at the sideline or stuff like that. I don’t know why that is but I respect him of course.

“I am not too interested if that will stay but my respect will not change and I have no idea what he thinks about me.

“From my point of view, I have respect, I think that is normal when you see his teams playing and the work he did in the last few years if you are a football manager then you think, ‘oh not too bad.’

“We don’t know each other really well so it is not like the relationship I have with David Wagner. That is a friendship and it is not like that. We cannot lose anything.”

City’s record at Anfield is an underwhelming one with just five league wins in 49 games since the war and have not beaten Liverpool on their own turf since 2003.

Coupled with the fact European nights can turn the ground into a cauldron which intimidates opposition teams Klopp believes City will have some trepidation following the draw.

“They didn’t want us,” Klopp added. “We all know about that. Our record is not too bad against City.

“Yes it was a close game here and stuff like that. We are not the team they love to play constantly let me say it like this.

“The good thing is we know more about Manchester City than we could know about any other team we could have faced.

“Two intense games. If they are not intense from our point of view we have no chance.

“If we can put our specific, style, philosophy and mix it up with our attitude and stuff like this, being brave, then there is something in it for us. I love these games.

“They are fantastic for me as a manager and you know if you play City they do what they do at the highest level. They don’t defend the result, they go again. It’s cool. For sure the first one will be a really exciting game to watch.

“Although we are not like City in the situation of being already kind of champion, we have to fight for this top-four spot until the end of the season. That’s our situation, it’s no problem. When the games are coming in the Champions League then we think about it and not before or after.”

Gundogan is likely to feature (Getty)

Klopp also revealed City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, who he knows from their time together at Borussia Dortmund, has already been in touch about the tie,

He added: “Ilkay said in German ‘bis bald’ and I wrote back ‘see ya’. The message came immediately. Bis bald pretty much means, ‘see you soon’ and I used a scouse phrase ‘see ya’.