As Dortmund coach

“Grin on his face”: Klopp’s humorous comeback

Jürgen Klopp wore black and yellow again.

(Bild: BVB-TV / SID / AFP)

Jürgen Klopp returns as coach of Borussia Dortmund! More precisely, for a farewell match for his former protégés Lukasz Piszczek and Jakub Blaszczykowski. A very special day for "Kloppo", who admits: "I can't get the grin off my face!"

Nine years after his last game on the Dortmund bench, Klopp took the opportunity to return as coach for a "farewell match" in front of 81,365 spectators under the motto "Tschüssikowski" at Signal-Iduna-Park. For the 57-year-old, it was an emotional reunion with old companions.

The two crowd favourites Lukasz Piszczek and Jakub Blaszczykowski took center stage - Mats Hummels, Nuri Sahin, Kevin Großkreutz, Neven Subotic and Roman Weidenfellner also laced up their soccer boots once again on Saturday afternoon in the clash between team "Kuba" and team "Piszczu".

"Class reunion"
"It's like a class reunion," said Klopp on Sky: "It's what I've always dreamed of, that you'd meet up again at some point in your lives and just have a good time together. I can't get the grin off my face."

Hummels, who even coolly arrived at the stadium on an e-scooter, joined in. "It's a mixture of joy and sadness. I've spent a lot of my footballing life here," said the defender, who was substituted after 25 minutes but came back on in the second half. "It's nice to have found a framework like this," said Hummels. In the end, Klopp and team "Kuba" won 5:4. A fun afternoon for all involved ...