Diego Maradona dies: Encounter with legend 'like meeting the Pope' for Klopp

Diego Maradona dies: Encounter with legend 'like meeting the Pope' for Klopp

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp described an encounter with the late, great Diego Maradona as "like meeting the Pope".

Argentina and Napoli legend Maradona died this week, aged 60, stunning the football world.

Tributes have poured in for the iconic number 10, with many of the sport's biggest names sharing stories of their experiences.

Klopp met Maradona just once but was no different, describing the feeling in his Liverpool news conference on Friday.

"[He was] the best through my lifetime, who I watched most often," Klopp said.

"Maybe that's not right anymore because I've seen Cristiano [Ronaldo] and [Lionel] Messi as well now a lot, but during my own playing career he was the standout.

"His life shows the nice life you can have as a world-class footballer but also how difficult it can be.

"I met him once; for a player of my level, it was like meeting the Pope, to be honest. That was really special."

However, as his life and career are celebrated following his passing, Klopp wishes Maradona had experienced the same "respect" while he was still alive.

"Football will miss him," he added. "I will miss him.

"And you can see with all the reactions all over the world, if we'd shown our love for him, without asking him for a selfie, if we'd shown him the respect he deserves while he was still alive, I think we could have helped him."