LOVE SHAQ
TOTTENHAM v PSV, RED STAR v LIVERPOOL MAN CITY v SHAKHTAR, JUVE v MAN UNITED Kop star: I’ve won Champions League and deserve more
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Liverpool’s £13.5million Swiss international believes he should be remembered for the trophies he won with FC Basel and Bayern Munich rather than the relegation he suffered last season with Stoke.
And he bristles at the suggestion he’s been signed by Jurgen Klopp merely to make up the numbers at Anfield.
Shaqiri, 27, was part of the Bayern squad that became European champions in 2013.
He also won two Bundesliga titles, two German Cups and the FIFA Club World Cup with the Bavarian giants as well as three Swiss titles with Basel.
The new Kop star said: “Being relegated with Stoke was a very bad experience for the club and for me and I hope they can come back quickly. But despite what happened there, I am a Champions League winner. I think that deserves respect.
“People should remember where I played before, the qualities I have, and what I have achieved in the game.
“I played for one of the biggest teams in the world in Munich and again I am playing for one of the big clubs.
“So I don’t feel any pressure from the Liverpool shirt.
“When I go back to Munich, the fans show me that I am loved. I want it to be the same here. Why not a second time?”
Shaqiri, who had a spell at Inter Milan before joining Stoke for £12million three years ago, has added quality to Jurgen Klopp’s squad. And his recent performances have shown Kop boss Klopp (below) that he won’t be happy with a bit-part role at Anfield.
He added: “I think I am settled now and showing my best form.
“It is always important when you join a new club to play well, but also to win games, and obviously we have been doing that.
“It takes time for me to understand what the coach wants and also for my team-mates to understand me.
“I am getting more minutes on the pitch now and I feel I am getting better.
“It’s great being back in the Champions League. This was what I wanted.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling for me to be at this level after what happened at Stoke last season.
“I have my dreams to win things with Liverpool. Why not?”
Shaqiri’s temperament will be tested to the full when Klopp takes his team to face Red Star Belgrade on Tuesday. Born in Kosovo, the winger emigrated to Switzerland when he was a baby.
And when he celebrated scoring a goal against Serbia at the World Cup last summer by making an eagle gesture in tribute to his Albanian heritage, he was fined just under £8,000 for making a political statement.
Shaqiri is braced for a hot reception in Serbia’s Rajko Mitic Stadium – but he has promised to be on his best behaviour despite taking a swipe at the team Liverpool thrashed 4-0 at Anfield
He said: “I don’t think they (Red Star) are the best opponents, to be honest, and I don’t worry about the game in Belgrade.
“What happened in the World Cup is in the past and this is just another football game for me.
“Football is football and politics is politics. I will go there to play football. I am not going there to do anything else.”