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Liverpool FC can take an important step towards the knockout stages of the Champions League with a win at Belgrade Red Star. In Tuesday's match (SPIEGEL ONLINE ticker at 18:55), coach club Jürgen Klopp will refrain from using Xherdan Shaqiri. Liverpool fears, according to Klopp Anfeindungen, supporters of Belgrade against Shaqiri. Switzerland, which has Albanian Kosovar parents, provoked the enthusiasm of Serbian fans at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Serbia does not recognize the independence of the former Serbian province of Kosovo.
"We have heard speculation and discussed how Shaq would be received," Klopp said. "We have no idea what would happen, but we want to go and focus 100% on football without having to worry about other things, that's all." The Reds lead Group C six points ahead of Napoli (5) and Paris Saint-Germain (4). Shaqiri does not belong to Liverpool's regular squad, he only played in a distance match in ten games.
In Switzerland's 2-1 victory over Serbia at the World Cup, Bayern's former pro showed the two-headed eagle symbolizing the Albanian flag after hissing Serbian supporters against him himself, Granit Xhaka, Valon Behrami and Blerim Dzemaili. Albania is also not recognized by Serbia. Shaqiri was like his teammate Xhaka occupied by the World Football Association with a small fine.
Klopp pointed out that Liverpool has no political message. We want to avoid "all distractions" in the competition, "which is important for football and only for football".
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