By Duncan Shaw, dpa
Madrid (dpa) – Juergen Klopp made a fairly successful return to his old club Borussia Dortmund Thursday, with a 1-1 draw for Liverpool in a colourful Europa League quarter-final first leg, while holders Sevilla came from behind to win 2-1 at fellow Spaniards Athletic Bilbao.
Klopp, who was hugely successful at Dortmund between 2008 and 2015, was given a warm reception from the admiring fans in the packed Westfalenstadion.
Divock Origi gave Liverpool the lead in the 38th minute, against the run of play, after good work by Jordan Henderson, who later limped off with a knee injury.
Three minutes after the interval, Germany defender Mats Hummels levelled for Dortmund by heading in a corner from Henrikh Mkhitarya.
Dortmund dominated from then on but could not put away another goal.
«It was nice. A lot of people spoke about it but when I came onto the pitch it was respectful applause and that’s nice. That’s how it should be,» Klopp said about his reception from the Dortmund fans.
«Dortmund are a pretty good side and everyone could see that but we had our moments and we could have won the game.»
Meanwhile, Dortmund’s present coach Thomas Tuchel struck an optimistic note by saying: «In a quarter-final it can be that you don’t deserve to win and that was the case.
«This was exactly what we expected from Liverpool. But we expected ourselves to be better, freer in our passing and with a better rhythm.
«We are able to score away goals as well. We are not frightened and we are not too disappointed. Tonight was not our top performance and to win you need a top performance.
«We have been to a lot of places and scored and won. It’s half-time and the players are confident. We are looking forward to the game at Anfield.»
Meanwhile in Spain, holders Sevilla battled out an impressive 2-1 win at Athletic Bilbao, who took the lead through ageless veteran Aritz Aduruz.
The 35 year-old Aduriz, who is tournament top scorer, broke the deadlock two minutes into the second half by heading in a centre from Iker Muniain.
However, eight minutes later Muniain gifted an equalizer to Sevilla’s Thimothee Kolodziejczak with a deficient backpass.
Sevilla then had the bit between their teeth and Vicente Iborra hit a late winner for the visitors after being played through by Kevin Gameiro, despite a strong suspicion of offside.
«They took full advantage of our defensive mistakes, they were very sharp,» Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde said.
«But this tie is not yet over. We have the capacity to go there and win, I really do believe that.»
In Thursday’s other first legs, Villarreal beat Sparta Prague 2-1 thanks to a handsome brace from Cedric Bakambu, and Shakhtar Donetsk won 2-1 at Braga on goals from Yaroslav Rakitskiy and Facundo Ferreyra.
The second legs will be played April 14.
