Borussia Dortmund boss Nuri Sahin will come face to face with the man he savaged when he comes up against Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The pair will in opposite dug-outs in the Signal Iduna Park for a massive European night in matchday two of Uefa’s premier competition with both teams having recorded convincing opening day victories in the tournament. But Rodgers won’t bring back happy memories for Sahin, who saw his side bounce back from a 5-1 hammering by Stuttgart last week to win 4-2 against Bochum on Friday evening, after he endured a miserable spell under the Irishman at Liverpool.
The former Turkey international move to Anfield from Real Madrid on loan in 2012 when Rodgers first took over the Merseyside giants. But after just a dozen appearances for the Reds, his season-long deal was cut short with the midfielder moving to Borussia Dortmund – where he had made his name before moving to Santiago Bernabeau for the remainder of that campaign.
That move was later made permanent and he spent four years with the German side, where he is now in charge after succeeding Edin Terzic. After leaving Liverpool, Sahin claimed his flop spell was the fault of Rodgers, who not only failed to play him in the right position, but was unable to explain his thought process.
In an interview with Spanish newspaper AS, he said: “Brendan Rodgers wanted me to play as a 10. But I do not play behind the forwards. I spoke with him and asked him why I was playing there. It is not my real position.
“The boss could not answer me… still, I am not sorry about it. To play in the red jersey and be in Anfield is something marvellous. Maybe if I had not gone there I would not have been able to return to Borussia Dortmund. For that, I am happy. But I have left Brendan Rodgers, thanks be to God.”
That was in contrast to the praise he heaped on Rodgers when he first arrived at Liverpool. He said: “The only reason I am here is that I know that I can play football, I know that I have a manager who trusts in me and the way I play, and I am at a huge club. That is why I am here … He told me about English football and said that I would love the Premier League because it is the best league in the world. I made my own mind up about Brendan Rodgers.”
Jurgen Klopp was in charge of Dortmund when Sahin returned and the German went on to succeed Rodgers at Liverpool – and AGREED with the player of his Rodgers gripe. He said at the time: “Nuri’s a brilliant player. It was the wrong position [for Sahin to play]. If you are a No. 8 or 6 and you have to as a No. 9 or 10 – it’s not possible. For some guys of course it’s possible, but Nuri’s a brilliant player – not nine-and-a-half and not 10 – and I don’t know why Brendan Rodgers would do this.”