Klopp’s fitness worries

JURGEN KLOPP faces a selection headache for Liverpool’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich tonight.

Klopp was already planning a defensive shake-up for the last-16 first leg at Anfield with Virgil van Dijk banned and Dejan Lovren struggling due to a hamstring injury.

But Roberto Firmino, left, handed him a fresh worry in attack when he missed training at Melwood yesterday because of a virus.

Klopp remains hopeful Firmino will be fit to start, but if he fails to make it, Xherdan Shaqiri or Daniel Sturridge is likely to start alongside Mo Salah and Sadio Mane.

Liverpool are also ready to put midfielder Fabinho in at

centre-back alongside Joel Matip with Lovren unlikely to feature after he missed training yesterday.

The Croatia centre-back has not played since picking up a hamstring injury against Wolves last month.

Klopp, right, said: “We respect the qualities of Bayern Munich a lot: speed, technique, experience, it is all there.” The former Dortmund manager faces old foes Bayern for the first time in a competitive fixture since he left Germany.

Their president Uli Hoeness revealed this week that

Klopp was considered for the Bayern job in 2008, when he was at Mainz, but they opted for Jurgen Klinsmann instead.

“It is pretty much all true apart from the claim I was angry in the session afterwards when they called me to say they had decided on the other Jurgen,” said Klopp.

“I was not angry. I never expected they’d go for me. “I was a second division manager in Germany, a Championship manager if you want, and who would expect that Bayern calls you? It was more of a shock in the first moment. Then a couple of days later they called to say they would go with the other Jurgen. It was Uli Hoeness on the phone.”

Bayern have been Bundesliga champions for the past six years but are now second behind Borussia Dortmund.

Klopp said: “They are still a force. The way I see it, it makes them more dangerous. The league is not the situation where they want to be, so it means this is a competition where they are exactly where they want to be.”