Juergen Klopp embraced most of the Borussia Dortmund players on the pitch after the final whistle showing his affection for his former club has not faded.
The warm applause from Dortmund fans before the kick-off was also acknowledged by Liverpool manager Klopp, who had every reason to be delighted with his return to the Westfalenstadion after his side’s 1-1 draw with the Bundesliga side Thursday.
“Going onto the pitch, there was polite applause that I took and I made a small gesture in return,” Klopp said.
“Overall, coming back was good. This stadium is a great venue and a great place to play football. The people here are very special as well. I felt good coming back.”
Perhaps the emotion surrounding the Klopp’s first return to his old club affected Dortmund in the end in a game which leaves the Europa League quarter-final evenly poised as the sides go to Anfield for the return leg next week.
“The result is okay. We can play much better, though,” Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel told Sky television.
“We were lacking form, confidence, precision and the ability to impose ourselves on the game.
“The first attack gave us a fantastic chance on goal in the first half, but our confidence did not grow as a consequence.

With more smiles
“Maybe we were overloaded with information. Perhaps the tension was too high. Things just did not go our way like you need them to in such games. I wish that we could have played with more of a smile on our faces.”
Liverpool defended solidly and took the lead through the excellent Divock Origi, with the Belgium striker then thwarted from a second goal just before the break by keeper Roman Weidenfeller.
After Mats Hummels headed Dortmund level just after the break, Weidenfeller had to rescue the home side with a three saves in quick succession.
“Unfortunately we had a three-minute spell after the equaliser in which Liverpool had some good chances, which prevented us from using the momentum that the equalising goal gave us,” Hummels said.
“However, it’s still all to play for. A 2-2 draw would see us through. And we should be capable of getting such a result. We don’t just have a good chance, but a very good chance, of progressing to the next round, because we know our qualities.”
Weidenfeller was also confident Dortmund would be able to finish the job at Anfield next week.
“Next week it’ll be better. We still have every chance of deciding the tie in our favour - even away from home. We won’t only score one goal there, we’ll score twice,” he said.
Dortmund will though need a club first if they are to reach the semi-finals.
Although they progressed three times in Europe after drawing a first leg 1-1, all those first-leg draws were away from home. Three 1-1 draws at home previously resulted in elimination.
Klopp would not accept Liverpool now have the edge and was unhappy at losing captain Jordan Henderson to a first-half knee injury which he said looked serious.
“We saw the game - it’s still 50-50. Dortmund don’t care too much where they play and where they score goals,” he said.
“Of course they’re still in a very good position. But I think it was very important for us to show this Liverpool face. A lot of people thought a lot of things about our probable or possible performance, and maybe they are a little bit surprised. I’m really happy with the performance.”