Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says his relationship with Manchester United interim boss Ralf Rangnick, whom he knows well from his time in Germany, is on the back-burner.
The Reds boss also says he's not concerned by the goalscoring form of Mohamed Salah, who is without a goal from open play since February.
Klopp's Liverpool are in terrific touch and booked their place in the FA Cup final on Saturday with a 3-2 win over Manchester City at Wembley - a win that was delivered by a brace from Sadio Mane, who is now up to 10 career goals against the reigning Premier League champions.
Liverpool's attention switches back to the Premier League on Tuesday and a showdown with bitter rivals Manchester United at Anfield. The Red Devils are enduring another torrid season - making very little progress in terms of playing style or results - and are scrapping it out with Arsenal, Tottenham and West Ham to a lesser extent for a place in next season's Champions League.
Interim boss Rangnick knows Klopp well from their time managing in Germany, but the Liverpool boss - who labelled the 63-year-old an 'outstanding coach' prior to his appointment - told the media during his pre-match press conference that their relationship is on hold for now - while he also defended Salah's recent record in front of goal.
Klopp on Rangnick relationship and facing Man Utd
"My relationship with Ralf Rangnick is on hold. I haven't spoken to him since he has been in England out of respect, but you can see the changes he has made there and the parts he has improved.
"When I prepare for the United game, I don't think about Ralf, it's about preparing for the team."
"The Man Utd we will face, they will go for it," he added. "They want to go to the Champions League. It will be an intense 90 minutes. This time it's an incredibly important game again for both teams. That says it all. Both teams are fighting."
Klopp on Salah's form
"It's a completely normal spell he is going through," he said. "We've spoken about the physical demands. I liked the game against [Manchester] City a lot, it was a really good football game, only a question of time before he scores again. He's been close enough a couple of times.
"We have had plenty of talks over the time we have worked together and at this specific moment there is no need to talk about the situation, just the normal stuff about what he has to do in the game and all these kind of things."
Can Liverpool win the quadruple?
Liverpool's chances of winning an unprecedented quadruple are increasing every week.
The Reds' victory over Manchester City in their FA Cup semi-final clash at Wembley was hugely significant, not only because they are now through to the final - where they will face off against Chelsea in a repeat of the Carabao Cup final - but because they could now have a mental advantage over Pep Guardiola's side in the Premier League title race.
Villarreal are their opponents in the last four of the Champions League - not an easy task by any means but one that could have been far harder - and they're the in-form Premier League team - you only need to look at their results since the turn of the year for evidence of that.
Virgil van Dijk says it's 'almost impossible' to achieve but if any team is capable, it's this Liverpool team under Klopp.
Source : 90min