Jurgen Klopp trolls both Gary and Phil Neville after Alexis Mac Allister faces brother in Europe | OneFootball

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Earlier this week, Liverpool took on Union Saint-Gilloise at Anfield in the Europa League. This game afforded fans the rare opportunity to watch two brothers come up against one another on a football pitch at the elite level with Alexis Mac Allister representing the home team and Kevin playing for the Belgian outfit.

In the end, goals from Ryan Gravenberch and Diogo Jota gave Jurgen Klopp and co a fairly routine win as they now sit top of Group E with six points from six after two games played. With the result in the bag and no real drama to speak of, the headlines have really been stolen by the two siblings who both featured in the match.

The Mac Allister brothers speak after Liverpool beat Union SG

Speaking to TNT Sports after the game (via TalkSport), Alexis said: "It was really nice for the family, very emotional. I've played against my older brother before but never against Kevin - it was special. My dad was here too, he knows what it means, he cried a little bit."

Kevin – who is a year older than his sibling – added: "He was the reason I suffer today, but it was a very special moment. Of course, Liverpool, maybe in the last match, come to Belgium and we can get revenge maybe."

Klopp aims dig at Neville brothers

Speaking to the press this week ahead of Liverpool's trip to Brighton in the Premier League on Sunday, Klopp was apparently pleased to be discussing something beyond the topic of VAR. So delighted was he, the German even cracked a joke at the expense of Gary and Phil Neville – two other famous siblings to have played against one another during the course of their careers.

He began: "It's the first time that two brothers played against each other in world football, or [that's] what it felt like. It's a really nice story." A journalist interjected then, saying: "It's not the first time ever. The Neville brothers." Another football writer explained that Klopp was kidding, saying: "It was a joke."

The Reds manager then started speaking again, this time throwing shade at the two retired Englishmen, saying: "Nobody was interested in that, obviously. I suppose we spoke about football..." He then added: "Sorry, that was a penalty – sorry I had to take that."

Gary and Phil Neville both came through the Manchester United academy and won plenty together as part of the Class of '92 generation. However, Phil left Old Trafford in 2005 and spent the rest of his career at Everton, while his older brother stayed at the same club until he retired in 2011.

They went on to face each other on a number of occasions and even once famously showed their commitment to the game by not even acknowledging one another in the tunnel shortly before a match between the Red Devils and the Toffees took place at Goodison Park in 2010. Both men are of course still active in the world of football – Gary as a pundit and Phil as a coach – and it will be interesting to see if either reacts to this public dig from Klopp, even if it was only a joke.