Bayern repeat underhand tactics that left Klopp squaring up with ex-Stasi cop

The Liverpool legend led Bayer Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title last season, becoming only the second man in a quarter of a century to do so after Klopp.

This season he's been unable to follow up, with Vincent Kompany's side eight points clear at the top of the table and well on their way to Harry Kane's first professional trophy.

However, Alonso, who played for the Bavarians from 2014 to 2017, has another chance to inflict some pain on his old side, with them clashing in a mammoth Champions League last 16 tie on Wednesday night.

Leverkusen may well be favourites for the clash, having completely outplayed Bayern on February 15 but they somehow came away with a 0-0 draw.

However, Bayern have attempted to tip the balance back their way, by tapping up Leverkusen's best player.

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In the days leading up to the first leg in Munich, three of the club's most senior figures have expressed their desire to sign reigning Bundesliga Player of the Year, Florian Wirtz.

Honorary president Uli Hoeness got the ball rolling, saying: "I would love to get Florian Wirtz if the opportunity arose."

Current president, Herbert Hainer, later agreed saying: "As a football fan, you have to admit that Florian Wirtz is an outstanding player.

"Florian Wirtz is one of the best German players - and you know how we have handled it in recent years: We want the best players to be with us. And that is why Uli is certainly right."

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And if that wasn't enough to get Alonso's blood boiling, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has joined in to an even stronger degree, adding: "Everyone at Bayern agrees that he is the player we want to sign. Not to weaken Leverkusen, but to strengthen us. Wirtz is the best player in Germany."

Wirtz is reportedly set to sign a contract extension in Leverkusen until 2028, but Rummenigge throwing Jamal Musiala under the bus as the 'best player in Germany' may suggest otherwise, with club legend Lothar Matthaus calling the comments a 'slap in the face' to Musiala.

However, if we zoom out a little, the real story is that this isn't a first.

In 2013, with Bayern taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final, the Bavarians announced a £32million deal to sign Klopp's star player, Mario Gotze.

Klopp said the announcement 'felt like a heart attack,' adding: "It's going to take a while, this news is not good for us.

"The timing of it is not ideal. Anybody can make their own minds up as to why it's come out now, but it is out."

Matthaus, a Bayern legend, was again critical of his old side, saying: "It's not fair, it's unbelievable," and calling the tactics 'mischievous' while accusing Gotze of a 'betrayal'.

Bayern had already wrapped up the Bundesliga at that point, but there were still three games to go, one of which was at the Westfalenstadion.

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Fans burned Gotze shirts pre-match, and during an unremarkable 1-1 draw, Klopp let his emotions get the better of him as he squared up to the most terrifying of rivals.

The lofty German went head-to-head with the terrifying figure of 1996 Ballon d'Or winner Matthias Sammer, a man who later revealed he was a member of Germany's Stasi secret police.

"So if you played for Dynamo [Dresden] at that time, you had to join the people's police," he explained in 2017.

"Then when conscription came along, you had to agree to join a similar type of organisation to the army if you wanted to continue playing football.

"Had I refused them I would have been forced to go into the army. That would have meant me leaving Dynamo, and been the end of my football career.

"Of course it was sad, and it was part of a false system. But there was no alternative for me."

Sammer also is guilty of embarrassing a young Roy Keane, who recently told Gary Neville one of his career regrets was trying to swap shirts with the German icon.

"I've asked one player to swap a jersey, which I regret when I played Germany with Ireland. Once to swap a player for Germany, pre-94 World Cup," he said.

"It was the sweeper, Sammer. He said, "No" and I went, 'f***'."

Klopp certainly met his match with Sammer, who later joined Dortmund as an advisor, but his anger with Bayern was clear to see.

Later, in 2022, he was once again left fuming with his old rivals when it emerged that they'd agreed a £35million deal with Liverpool for star man Sadio Mane days before a Champions League final against Real Madrid.

"The Bayern rumours, I couldn't care less," Klopp said in his pre-match press conference. "We are all fully focused, Sadio is fully focused.

"Completely normal, it's not the first time in my career that before a decisive game Bayern Munich rumours come up, I don't know exactly what I did… but that happens."

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Both in 2013 and 2023, Klopp lost the finals after distractions from Bayern, and it will be something Alonso is desperately keen to avoid.

However, if it's any consolation for Klopp, both Gotze and Mane completely flopped at their new club, but it's hard to imagine Wirtz doing the same.