Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will return to the dugout with former club Borussia Dortmund, taking charge of a testimonial match arranged for two of his former players.
Klopp announced in January that he would depart Liverpool at the conclusion of the 2023/24 season, ending a hugely successful eight-and-a-half-year tenure that saw the club win the UEFA Champions League for the sixth time and the Premier League for the first time – Liverpool’s first top-flight title in 30 years.
The German has since suggested that he’s finished with management altogether, distancing himself from succeeding Gareth Southgate as England’s manager in the process.
He will, however, be in back in charge of Borussia Dortmund for one-night only, overseeing a team of former players that will honour the careers of Lukasz Piszczek and Jakub Blaszczykowski.
Both played prominent roles when Klopp led Dortmund to back-to-back Bundesliga title successes in 2010/2011 and 2011/12, and were driving forces behind the club’s run to the 2013 Champions League final – a game Dortmund lost to bitter rivals Bayern thanks to Arjen Robben‘s dramatic 89th minute winner.
Pictures on Dortmund‘s social media channels showed Klopp donning the club’s famous black and yellow, with a video skit involving Piszczek and Blaszczykowski showing how they ‘made the decision’ to bring back their former manager for the game.
“We need a coach and I have an idea, we’ll call the retired coach,” Piszczek told Blaszczykowski.
Klopp then appears in sunglasses, saying: “You finally have your farewell game. Oh my god. And you want to train before the game. Are you stupid?”
Dortmund’s success under Klopp enticed Liverpool to hire him in October 2015, after the club sacked Brendan Rodgers, and the Reds finished as runners-up in the Europa League just seven months later.
By 2020, Liverpool had won the Premier League, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup under Klopp – further domestic cup success followed in the later years of Klopp’s spell on Merseyside.
