Klopp constantly plays with Real Madrid in the Champions League – every 9 matches! But he played only with Borussia

And only in one season.

At the end of January, Jurgen Klopp marked a round number: 1,000 matches as a manager. And a couple of months before that, the German conquered another milestone: 100 games in the Champions League.

Including qualifications (he played in the 2017/18 season against Hoffenheim), Klopp has 102 matches in the Champions League – that’s his way. 

•‎ Jürgen led the team to the Champions League for the first time in 2011 and has since missed only two draws: in 2015/16 he was picked up by Liverpool, who were in the Europa League, and brought to the final (lost to Sevilla). But the championship finished eighth and did not reach European competition at all.

• Klopp’s team has only missed the play-offs once: the first time Borussia finished fourth in a group with Arsenal, Marseille and Olympiacos.

Klopp’s most frequent opponent in the Champions League is Real Madrid. The 1/8 finals of this season will be the 11th and 12th games –11.5% of all matches of the German in the Champions League, or every ninth!

Here’s what Jürgen’s previous 10 encounters with Madrid looked like.

• In the 2012/13 season, Borussia played Madrid four times in total: twice in the group and in the semi-finals. The Germans produced an outstanding result: first place in the group (win + draw with Real Madrid) and a pass to 1/2 with Lewandowski’s poker. 

Further – only relegations to the playoffs. 

• Liverpool face Real Madrid for the third consecutive season. This is not a record yet, but it is already close: Chelsea have played against Liverpool for 5 years in a row, Atlético against Real Madrid for 4.

• Before the 2013 semi-final, Jurgen noted that the third and fourth games against Real Madrid would not be like group matches: . You can’t think that we will be able to win just because we scored 4 points in the group.”

Ten years later, Klopp voiced similar thoughts: “Every game we play against Real Madrid is different. Eight months ago, in Paris [in the Champions League final], we could have won. Before that, we met in the playoffs under strange conditions: in Madrid we played at a training ground, and at Anfield without spectators.