Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has denied claims that he made xenophobic comments about Manchester City ahead of Sunday's Premier League clash at Anfield, saying "I know what I thought" when claiming "nobody can compete" with the Abu Dhabi-owned champions.
Klopp has been the subject of an anonymous briefing connected to City suggesting that his claims about the club's wealth were pejorative towards the Abu Dhabi ownership group, headed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan.
But speaking in a news conference on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's game against West Ham United, Klopp said his comments had been misunderstood.
"That is [the] life of people who speak in public," Klopp said. "It is not the first time I am misunderstood. I know what I thought when I said it. When someone misunderstands, I cannot help that.
"I know I have to be careful and when I'm not I realise it. I try to do it [be careful] in the future. I say what I know or I judge it how it I see it.
"It started with a question and I answered it and all the rest was made of it. I know what I thought and put it in perspective and said how much I respect what they are doing and it was still not right for some."
Despite Liverpool issuing a statement condemning "vile chants" by the City supporters relating to the Heysel and Hillsborough disasters, there has so far been no similar condemnation from within the Etihad, which Klopp refused to discuss when asked.
"This kind of question I would like not to answer," he said. "We responded as a club, I think it is what we have to do. Apart from that, everything from a non-native English speaker, everything would be open to misinterpretation again."
The fallout from Sunday's game, which also saw claims that Guardiola was hit by coins thrown from the stand and the City bus targeted with objects on its way out of Liverpool, has added another chapter to the increasingly hostile relationship between the two clubs.
And Klopp admitted that it is unrealistic to expect all clubs to be on friendly terms.
"I am not sure we have to be best friends with other clubs," he said. "I am not sure anybody wants to be best friends with us.
"Respect? A question I can't even answer because I have no idea. You have to ask that to the people at City."
Meanwhile, Klopp has been charged with improper conduct following his outburst at the assistant referee during his side's 1-0 Premier League win against City at the weekend, the Football Association (FA) said on Tuesday.
Klopp was sent to the stands for confronting the official after Liverpool's Mohamed Salah was denied a free kick late in the second half at Anfield.
"Jurgen Klopp has been charged with a breach of FA Rule E3 following the Premier League game between Liverpool FC and Manchester City FC on Sunday 16/10/22," the FA said in a statement.
"It is alleged that the Liverpool FC manager's behaviour during the 86th minute of this game was improper, and he has until Friday 21/10/22 to provide a response."
The decision means that the German is free to take charge of his side when they host West Ham on Wednesday.
Liverpool are eighth in the league table with 13 points from nine games, two points ahead of 12th-placed West Ham.
Information from Reuters was included in this report.