Guardiola held back by Pep Lijnders as Manchester City manager involved in argument with Liverpool star after 1-1 draw

Pep Guardiola had to be held back by Liverpool's assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders after the full-time whistle after the Spanish tactician got into an argument with Darwin Nunez.

Everything seemed to be fine on the touchline just after the full-time whistle. Jurgen Klopp and Guardiola embraced each other after their teams played out a tightly-contested 1-1 draw at the Etihad.

Even Nunez, who was taken off in the 86th minute, went up to shake the former Barcelona manager's hand. But he immediately said something to Guardiola which drew a response from the latter.

According to the Athletic's James Pearce on X, Lijnders had to step in to prevent Guardiola from confronting Nunez. The Uruguayan striker, meanwhile, was pulled away from the spot by Klopp, who clearly did not want the matter to escalate.

After the game, Guardiola was asked by the reporters to shed light on what happened between him and Nunez. But he responded on Sky Sports by saying that 'nothing happened' between the two (h/t Fabrizio Romano on X).

Nunez had four shots during the game but failed to convert any of his chances. He was nevertheless a constant threat to Manchester City's defense whenever the Reds were in their final third of the pitch.

Erling Haaland's 27th-minute goal gave Manchester City the lead before Trent Alexander-Arnold's well-placed right-footed finish leveled the scoreline 10 minutes from time.

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Jurgen Klopp gives his take on Pep Guardiola's argument with Liverpool star

Jurgen Klopp said that 'emotions' caused Pep Guardiola and Darwin Nunez to engage in a post-match argument on the touchline.

The Liverpool boss is arguably one of the most overtly passionate managers around. Such is his tendency to get into spats with rival managers and referees that he was himself surprised that it wasn't him who was involved in the argument.

In fact, the German manager was one of the people trying to actively control the spat from escalating. After the game, Klopp gave his two cents on the incident and said, via @thisisanfield on X:

"Emotions, emotions [reason behind Nunez-Guardiola spat] I was not involved... surprisingly! I did not understand a word! It's emotional. Pep wants to win, we want to win."

Watch Klopp's comments below:

Liverpool still sit second in the table, at least until Arsenal play their game against Brentford later today (25 November). Klopp's men have 28 points from 13 matches — one fewer than leaders Manchester City.