Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has shed light on the omission of Xherdan Shaqiri from his Champions League squad.
The Reds will travel to the Serbian capital of Belgrade to take on Red Star in their fourth match of Group C on Tuesday evening, but Shaqiri has been left out in an effort to avoid promoting a “political message” due to his Albanian heritage.
The 27-year-old is an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo, where tensions between the Albanian and Serbian populations have remained rife since the Kosovo War of the late 1990s.
Shaqiri was famously involved in controversy during the World Cup after he celebrated scoring for Switzerland against Serbia by making a double-headed eagle gesture, which symbolises the Albanian flag.
As a result, the Liverpool winger was fined 10,000 Swiss francs (£7,632) by Fifa but avoided suspension. Team-mates Granit Xhaka and Stephan Lichtsteiner were also fined after the group-stage match.
In an effort to avoid controversy and unnecessary “distraction” Klopp has now decided to leave Shaqiri at home, stating his intentions to be “respectful” and to solely focus on the football.
“We have heard and read the speculation and talk about what kind of reception Shaq would receive and although we have no idea what would happen, we want to go there and be focused 100 per cent on football and not have to think about anything else, that’s all,” Klopp told the club’s official website.
“We are Liverpool FC, a big club, a football team but we don’t have any message further than that. We have no political message, absolutely not. We want the focus to be on a great game of football, free from anything else.
“We are keen to be respectful and keen to avoid any distractions that would take focus away from a 90-minute-plus contest that is important for football and only football. So for that reason, Shaq is not involved and he accepts and understands this. Shaq is our player, we love him, and he will play for us a lot of times, but not on Tuesday.
“I have heard so many wonderful things about the city of Belgrade, and the country of Serbia as a whole, from friends and colleagues who’ve visited before, so now I’m really looking forward to taking Liverpool there for a great game of Champions League football.”
Henrikh Mkhitaryan missed Arsenal’s trip to Qarabag earlier in the season for similar reasons. Diplomatic tensions between Azerbaijan and Mkhitaryan’s native Armenia meant that Emery decided to leave the playmaker at home to avoid any complications
Liverpool are currently top of Group C on six points having clinched victories against PSG and Red Star, and they could extend their lead at the top as Napoli clash with the Parisians at the Stadio San Paolo.
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