‘If Dortmund had kept key players we would have won the Champions League,’ says Klopp

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp believes his former club Borussia Dortmund would have become European champions if they weren’t a selling club.

The charismatic German tactician presided over Dortmund from 2008 to 2015 in which time Die Borussen won back-to-back Bundesliga crowns and reached the 2013 Champions League final.

During their successful period under the 51-year-old, the German powerhouse boasted an exciting crop of talent, notably their 2011 title-winning squad which included the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Mats Hummels, Shinji Kagawa and Mario Gotze; and now looking back Klopp feels that if they managed to keep those guys together, history would have turned out differently.

“Years ago I was at Dortmund,” he told reporters (via BBC Sport). “If they had let us play for the next four years with the Dortmund team of 2011 we would have won the Champions League at least once.

“They were 19/20 years old. It was an unbelievable team and we were lucky to bring them all together. We have not exactly the same [at Liverpool] but it is similar.

“In the past for Liverpool it was the same situation. Torres, Suarez, Coutinho, Sterling. They were sold. That is true. The only thing that means for us now is that we are responsible. We cannot blame anybody. We cannot say ‘he is not there any more’.”

Klopp in Liverpool

Klopp was appointed Reds manager in October 2015 following the sacking of Brendan Rodgers and would subsequently guide them to two finals, in the League Cup and Europa League, both of which they ultimately lost.

Last season, Liverpool reached their eighth European Cup final, only to lose to defending champions Real Madrid in Kiev.

But it’s fair to say they’ve come a long way under Klopp, having finished fourth in the last two seasons, and with substantial recruitment this summer many are expecting them to be the champions Manchester City’s nearest challenger.

So far Klopp has overseen 155 matches in all competitions winning 81 (52.3%) and losing on 30 occasions. In the process, the Reds have registered 321 goals (one every 44 minutes) and conceded 176 (or 1.14 per game).

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