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FOOTBALL

Colleagues tip Klopp to break Liverpool hoodoo

Borussia Dortmund boss Hans-Joachim Watzke and Alex Ferguson are tipping Jürgen Klopp to bring success back to Liverpool, but legendary goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel says it won't be so easy.

Colleagues tip Klopp to break Liverpool hoodoo
Jürgen Klopp. Photo: DPA

“I am convinced he will write a similar success story like he did here with us,” Watzke told German daily Bild on Sunday.

Klopp won the 2011 and 2012 Bundesliga titles and steered Dortmund to the 2013 Champions League final, where they lost 2-1, at Wembley, against Bayern Munich in the first all-German final, before he quit in May.

The 48-year-old has a contract to manage the sleeping Merseyside giants until June 2018 and will take charge of his first Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur next Saturday.

In his first Liverpool press conference on Friday, Klopp said he wants to win 'a title within four years', which ex-Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel said could have been an error.

“First mistake..?? Others have made the same promise! #It'sNotThatEasyMrKlopp,” tweeted Schmeichel.

Schmeichel knows what he is talking about having kept 129 clean sheets for United in 310 Premier League games and won the title five times with the Old Trafford giants.

But former United boss Ferguson, who won 13 English titles between 1992 and 2013, predicts Liverpool could become pretenders to the Premier League crown under Klopp.

“He's a strong personality, very strong, very stubborn, determined and his performances, and his career at Dortmund was a stellar rise to the top and I think he'll do very well,” Ferguson told broadcaster ESPN having met Klopp on coaching courses.
“I don't like saying that, being Liverpool, because I'm worried about it but, no, he'll do well.”

Watzke is sure Klopp will not set about boosting the Liverpool squad by raiding Borussia's squad for stars such as Marco Reus, Mats Hummels, Neven Subotic or Ilkay Gundogan.

“I am 100 percent sure that nothing will be done behind our backs and Jürgen will never do anything that may damage Borussia, because we're too close and experienced too much together,” said Watzke.

“Liverpool has many parallels with Borussia and everybody in Dortmund will cross their fingers for the Reds.”

The Dortmund CEO says he is determined to travel to see a Liverpool game at Anfield and wanted to see the match at Chelsea on October 31, but it clashes with Dortmund's Bundesliga match at Werder Bremen.

“But we'll go at the next opportunity,” added Watzke.

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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