Liverpool have been drawn against Borussia Dortmund, manager Jurgen Klopp’s former club, in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
The Reds drew 1-1 at Manchester United on Thursday night, which was enough to see them progress at the expense of their Premier League rivals, while Dortmund defeated Tottenham 5-1 on aggregate to progress.
Klopp left Dortmund in July 2015, having taken the Bundesliga side to the 2013 Champions League final at Wembley.
The other ties see Braga of Portugal play Shakhtar Donetsk and Villarreal meet Sparta Prague while there will be an all-Spanish clash between Athletic Bilbao and holders Sevilla, who are chasing a third straight tournament success.
The quarter-final ties will be played on April 7 and 14.
Klopp had spoken of the prospect of facing Dortmund after the tie at Old Trafford.
“Dortmund? Of course not. Why should I want the strongest team in the tournament in the next round?” he said.
“I am not so silly, but if we go there then we try to win.”
The issue was again raised at Friday morning’s pre-match press conference ahead of the Barclays Premier League game at Southampton on Sunday.
Klopp reiterated whichever team his men would face in the draw, they should not expect an easy ride.
“When you are in the quarter-final it is possible to get to the final – that’s all,” he said.
“There’s a long way to go. We took all the games very serious, we were very concentrated and did what we had to do.
“If you want to win this competition then you have to beat the best teams, not too important when.”
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