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Frank Lampard has said he regrets swearing in the direction of the Liverpool bench during Chelsea‘s defeat at Anfield but insisted members of Jurgen Klopp’s staff “crossed the line” with their behaviour.
The Blues were beaten 5-3 on Wednesday in a joyous occasion for the home side as they lifted the Premier League trophy after the game, ending a 30-year wait for a top-flight title.
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Lampard warned Liverpool not to get “too arrogant” in a postmatch interview having earlier become involved in a heated exchange of words on the touchline with Klopp and his backroom staff.
Klopp responded to Lampard and said the Chelsea boss should learn to not talk about whatever happens on the touchline postmatch.
Speaking in a news conference ahead of Sunday’s Premier League visit of Wolves, Lampard sought to clarify his comments after video of the touchline fracas went viral on social media.
“To be honest, I think it was… I’ve seen the video and I was obviously there,” he said. “In terms of the language I used, I do regret that. These things get replayed a lot on social media. I’ve got two young daughters on social media so I regret that.
“In terms of regretting having the passion to defend my team, no. I could have maybe handled it slightly differently to keep that language in but what I felt was, and I want to be clear about this actually as some of the reports were that I was upset with the celebrating of the Liverpool team.
“Far from it. I think Liverpool should celebrate as much as they want with the season they’ve had. They can celebrate like they did after the game, like they can celebrate every goal they score, like they celebrate when they won the league a month ago and like they’re talking about celebrating one more time with their fans.
“I would have had a beer with Jurgen Klopp after the game and toasted what a performance they’d done this year. But there were things on the line I didn’t like from their bench, not Jurgen Klopp but people behind the bench, which I felt that crossed the line.
“That’s what got me agitated but it is done. Emotions run high amongst most managers, players and fans in this game. I regret the language, move on.”
Chelsea need a point against Wolves to qualify for next season’s Champions League and N’Golo Kante has a chance of being fit after resuming full training on Friday following a hamstring problem.