Jürgen Klopp said Wednesday he would wait to see how things pan out before commenting on the Premier League's announcement yesterday that Manchester City had been found guilty of 114 charges for breaching financial rules.
The charges cover a period between 2009 and 2018, with Klopp's tenure at Liverpool -- which began in 2015 -- overlapping with the time that City were have found to be guilty of breaking Premier League rules.
On the eve of Germany's match against Serbia in the Nations League, though, Klopp seemed content to let his record at Merseyside speak for itself instead of speculating over what might have been.
"I haven't given it much thought, even though I've seen it of course," Klopp said. "Should any sanctions be imposed, I naturally have nothing to do with it anyway, and that's why I'm waiting to see how things pan out. But when you're talking about legal proceedings that have been going on for so long now, I assume there will be an appeal or something like that? That will take ages again of course.
"So I'm a long way from preparing myself for it in any way and I don't have any feelings about it."
City, who won the Premier League three times between 2009 and 2018, have denied all of the charges and are set to lodge an appeal against the verdict.
Of his longtime rival and Man City coach Pep Guardiola, Klopp said: "I also know what I said about it in the past and how if there's ever a parade, I'll be there. But it doesn't feel like that anymore. My respect for Pep Guardiola and the football played at City during the time we played against each other, in the way they played back then and how they brought football to life on the pitch -- plus what an opponent they proved to be for us at the very highest level -- is far too great for me to be able to say anything now."
Klopp was also tight-lipped on Germany's captain for the Nations League tie -- his third match in charge of the national team. The new Germany coach has a completely new squad to work with after he selected two groups for the four fixtures during this international window.
With regular captain Joshua Kimmich allowed to leave the camp after he featured in a 1-1 draw in the Netherlands and the shock home loss to Greece, Klopp must decide who wears the armband for this clash in Munich.
"The team will be led onto the pitch tomorrow by the player with the most international caps," Klopp said on Wednesday.
Captain question aside, Klopp did hint that Bayern Munich goalkeeper Jonas Urbig would play at his home stadium of Allianz Arena.
"Feel free to ask 'who might be a captaincy option,' but I don't reveal the starting lineup now. You can look them up yourselves," said Klopp. "I can only say that Jonas Urbig won't wear the armband in his first international match."
Urbig took part in a news conference after Klopp and expressed his delight at making his Germany debut.
"It's a moment you've worked towards your whole life and I'm simply delighted to have the opportunity tomorrow to play here in our own stadium and do my part to help us as a team achieve our first victory," Urbig said. "This No. 1 topic isn't something I'm concerned with. My focus is really on reaching my limit every day and pushing it even further. And everything else will perhaps fall into place over time."
Germany are without a win in four fixtures after a World Cup last-32 exit to Paraguay followed a group-stage loss to Ecuador, but Serbia are on an equally poor run.
Serbia have lost both Nations League fixtures by a 2-1 score to the Netherlands and Greece, respectively, after they suffered heavy defeats to Cape Verde and Mexico during the summer.
"Serbia's approach won't be much different from what Greece did. What makes Serbia particularly difficult to play against is their experience," Klopp said. "They also have some excellent footballers. They know all the tricks of the trade, so we have to be prepared for that.
"It's not the best period in Serbian football at the moment, but the players themselves know what's at stake. An opponent that sits deep is a major challenge for any team, at any stage of development."
Following the game against Serbia on Thursday, Germany will close out Nations League play for the September/October international window with a second match against Greece, this time in Thessaloniki on Oct. 4.
