Liverpool travel to the Red Star Stadium in order to take on Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League and Xherdan Shaqiri will not be part of the squad.
No, the summer signing is not suffering from an injury but it political tension which has forced the Swiss to sit out this game.
Xherdan Shaqiri along with Granit Xhaka came under a lot of scrutinies when the pair made the pro-Kosovo “double eagle” gesture during Switzerland’s games in the World Cup.
And given that Shaqiri could be a possible target from the home fans, Liverpool have chosen to omit him from the travelling squad for their Champions League game this week.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp told the club’s website: “It’s a situation where we will go to the fantastic city of Belgrade as a football team to play 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.
“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.
BREAKING: @LFC confirm Xherdan Shaqiri will not travel to Serbia for tomorrow's Champions League game against Red Star Belgrade #SSN pic.twitter.com/bNfZQq7krM
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) November 5, 2018
“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.”
Liverpool sit on top of Group C with six points from three games while Red Star Belgrade are at the bottom of the table with just a single point.
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