Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski said Jurgen Klopp was “like a father” to him at Borussia Dortmund, with the manager changing the striker’s career trajectory after one pivotal conversation.

Klopp left Liverpool in the summer after a hugely successful eight-and-a-half years at Anfield. Before that, the 57-year-old Reds legend achieved marvellous feats with German club Dortmund, winning two Bundesliga titles and reaching a Champions League final between the years of 2008 and 2015.

A key part of Klopp’s success was Lewandowski – initially an unproven youngster who developed into one of the greatest forwards of the 21st century. The Pole made 187 appearances under Klopp, notching an impressive tally of 103 goals, before joining rivals Bayern Munich.

While appearing on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, presented by Qatar Airways, the clinical Barcelona ace was asked by Ferdinand about the specifics of Klopp’s renowned man-management skills. Lewandowski recalled one specific heart-to-heart conversation with Klopp early on in his Dortmund career, where they discussed their expectations of each other, which ended up unlocking his potential.

He said: “We lost one game in my second year at Dortmund, I think it was away and we were in the hotel. At that time I had just started to speak German, so I couldn’t understand everything.

“I felt that I didn’t know what he wanted from me, what he expected from me. I had to talk with him. Because I lost my father when I was 16 years old and, in my life, I didn’t have someone who I could always speak to about my problems. So I thought that if I went to speak to him, maybe I’d feel better.

“We spoke for like one-and-a-half hours. Even though I didn’t understand everything he said, I tried to understand. He spoke then I spoke. In that conversation it was important what we were talking about.

“For me, it was more important that he talked to me in that way, which for me was like I was speaking to my father. Maybe because of my private situation and emotions at the time, I needed that conversation.”

Lewandowski went on to score a hat-trick and provide an assist just days later in a 4-0 victory. He added: “So, in the end this kind of conversation opened up something inside me.”

The forward has not looked back since, scoring 620 club goals for the likes of Bayern Munich and Barcelona. He holds the joint-record for the most top-scorer awards in Europe’s top five leagues (eight) alongside Lionel Messi, and was widely considered to be deserving of a Ballon d’Or until the award was cancelled in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

His story will resonate with many Liverpool players who were transformed under Klopp and responded well to his paternal management style. Such players include current captain Virgil van Dijk and Reds hero Sadio Mane.

Liverpool Echo

The Premier League returns this weekend – for its first properly undisrupted run of the season.

Top-level club football has had to stop for international breaks in September, October and November, but the next one is not until March now.

It coincides with the busy festive period next month.

BBC Sport looks at five talking points as the Premier League gets back under way.

Can anyone stop Liverpool? Will City get back to winning ways?
Liverpool are flying under Arne Slot and sit top of the Premier League and the Champions League table, having dropped points in just two games this season.

They are five points clear of Manchester City, who have lost four games in a row in all competitions – something Pep Guardiola had never experienced before in his managerial career (excluding penalty shootouts).

Despite their recent run and speculation about the Spaniard’s future, however, Guardiola this week agreed a new one-year deal to extend his stay at Etihad Stadium to 10 years.

It is a timely boost for City, who have another potentially tough game at home to Tottenham on Saturday (17:30 GMT) as they bid to avoid five defeats in a row.

This is the sixth occasion a team has been five points clear after 11 games – the first five all ended up as champions.

But City have won the last four Premier League titles and trailed the leaders by more than five points at one stage in each of those seasons.

Liverpool and City have one Premier League game each before they meet in a potential blockbuster at Anfield on Sunday, 1 December.

Arsenal, who have been runners-up for the past two seasons, are four points back – level with Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Brighton.

The Gunners and Forest meet on Saturday at 15:00 GMT at the Emirates.

There will be a new face in the Premier League this weekend – new Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim.

The deal was done for the Sporting manager on 1 November but his Portuguese club wanted him to wait until the international break before moving.

Ruud van Nistelrooy had been in interim charge after the sacking of Erik ten Hag – but the club’s former striker departed too as Amorim did not want him part of his backroom staff.

New Manchester United Manager

Amorim takes his new team to Ipswich on Sunday (16:30 GMT) in the Premier League.

He is expected to play the 3-4-3 formation he preferred in Portugal – a big change from the standard four-man defence they had under Ten Hag.

However, he might only get his full squad together two days before his first game because of players being around the world for international games.

United will hope Amorim’s first Premier League game goes like his first Portuguese top-flight match as a manager – when his Braga side won 7-1 at Belenenses in January 2020.

Everyone has won, but who will kick on at the bottom?
After eight games there were four teams without any wins but, three games later, Ipswich Town, Crystal Palace, Wolves and Southampton have one victory each.

Everton and Leicester, who have two wins this term, remain only three points clear of the bottom three.

The Saints are only given a 5.2% of survival by Opta, despite being only four points off safety at this stage.

“Hopefully I’ll be talking to you in two weeks,” Saints boss Russell Martin told journalists before the international break. “If not, we’ll see.”

But he remains in charge for Saturday’s home game against leaders Liverpool.

One Southampton player in buoyant mood will be defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who scored on his England debut against the Republic of Ireland on Sunday.

Fixture congestion coming up…
Four teams have nine games in December. The Carabao Cup quarter-finals are also being played the week before Christmas – and European games continue through December as a result of the new formats.

Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United all have nine games in December, an average of one every 3.4 days.

Some clubs, including Nottingham Forest and Brighton – who are fifth and sixth in the table respectively – only have six matches in the final month of 2024.

However, rest periods from rounds 17 and 20 this year have been increased to ensure no club plays within 60 hours of another match.

Last season Chelsea played three games in the space of 142 hours.

There will be no winter break in this campaign either – meaning clubs will be playing pretty much solidly until the first World Cup qualifiers – and next Nations League games – take place in March.

Palmer’s late double gives Chelsea win in 7-goal thriller against Man United

And what about injuries?
Nine players pulled out of the England squad for the recent Nations League double-header, an amount that raised eyebrows from fans – and even Three Lions captain Harry Kane.

We will find out when managers do their news conferences on Thursday and Friday how many out of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Aaron Ramsdale, Levi Colwill and Jarrad Branthwaite will be fit for this weekend’s games.

Liverpool have not yet said whether keeper Alisson Becker could be back after six weeks out injured – but if he does return that could be the end of Caoimhin Kelleher’s spell in the team.

One player who will be out for a while is Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, who was handed a seven-match domestic ban by the Football Association for using a racial slur about team-mate Son Heung-min.

He can still play Europa League matches but will not be available in the Premier League until 26 December.

BBC Sports

Patrick Vieira oversaw his first training session as the new coach of Genoa and reunited with Mario Balotelli after their previous personality clashes.

The former Crystal Palace and Strasbourg boss was appointed today to replace Alberto Gilardino and met his players for the afternoon session at the Villa Rostan camp.

Genoa released several images of Vieira in his first session, including pointedly a picture of him speaking individually to Balotelli.

The pair were teammates at Manchester City and then famously clashed when reunited at OGC Nice, where Vieira was coach and Balotelli a player.

The new boss will make his debut on the bench in a relegation tussle against Cagliari at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, also known as Marassi, on Sunday at 11.30 GMT.

It remains to be seen how he will be greeted, as the Genoa fans were very fond of Gilardino and are protesting his sudden dismissal.