Valverde beats Klopp again in Champions League
On Wednesday, Liverpool conceded a heavy 3:0 defeat to Barcelona in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, but this wasn’t the first time when Ernesto Valverde got the better of Jurgen Klopp.
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Coming into the semi-final tie, in-form Liverpool had high hopes of qualifying for their second consecutive Champions League final, however they were left to regret plenty of missed opportunities in a damaging 3:0 loss to Barcelona on the road. Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi scored clever goals for Valverde’s Spanish champions, while Klopp is now charged with conjuring up a master-plan to somehow overturn the three-goal deficit in the second leg in England.
Valverde already had experience of defeating Klopp on the European stage. In the 2011/2012 Champions League group stage, Olympiacos claimed a thrilling 3:1 victory against Borussia Dortmund at the Karaiskakis Stadium, with Valverde in charge of the Greeks and Klopp at the helm of the German giants.
Olympiacos opened the scoring inside eight minutes as Jose Cholevas powered a header home, but Robert Lewandowski promptly drew Dortmund level when firing a powerful attempt into the left corner. Nevertheless, Olympiacos would regain their lead before the break, with Rafik Djebbour lashing a strong drive in from close range. Francois Modesto sealed the win in the latter stages as he glanced a free-kick past Roman Weidenfeller.
In the end, Olympiacos would finish in third place of Group F to qualify for the UEFA Europa League with nine points, while Borussia Dortmund were in last place with just four points from the six matches.
TEAMS
Olympiacos: Costanzo, Marcano, Papadopoulos, Mellberg, Modesto, Orbaiz, Makoun (Maniatis 73’), Cholevas, Ibagaza, Mirallas (Fetfatzidis 90+1’), Djebbour (Pantelic 87’).
Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller, Schmelzer, Hummels, Subotic, Piszczek, Gündogan (Leitner 56’), Bender, Perisic, Kagawa (Błaszczykowski 66’), Gotze (Grosskreutz 82’), Lewandowski.
