Jurgen Klopp is back in the city where he made his mark as a manager, but he was hardly on the charm offensive.
As you might expect, the Liverpool boss’s press conference was packed with reporters ahead of the meeting with Borussia Dortmund, the club Klopp took to the 2013 Champions League Final.
Asked how he felt to be back on his old stomping ground, Klopp responded that it was better “than North Korea or something.”
Looking forward to the first leg on Thursday, Klopp stressed that his Liverpool side face a difficult task in Germany.
“Everyone has said Dortmund are favourites for the competition and I don’t think anyone disagrees with that given they are having a great season and can potentially be German champions, cup winners and win the Europa League,” he explained.
“I heard Dortmund trained today with a full squad apart from Subotic and they rested some players at the weekend. Nobody in my squad was rested at the weekend.
“It is all about the moment and we need to use the moment tomorrow. If there is one little advantage for us then it is that everyone knows Dortmund started out a few years ago by beating favourites. We can do that too.
“A lot of things can happen, especially in this stadium. We have to play top-level football and then we have a chance.”