JURGEN KLOPP’S RETURN to Borussia Dortmund saw his Liverpool side take some cautious optimism into the second leg of their Europa League tie thanks to a 1-1 draw at Signal Iduna Park.
Divock Origi rewarded the Reds boss’s faith in him as a starter ahead of Daniel Sturridge by sliding home the opening goal, a strike away from home which could be extremely valuable come full-time in the return fixture.
Dortmund equalised just over two minutes after half-time, however, when slack marking allowed Mats Hummels to had past Simon Mignolet from six yards out.
It was one of the only lapses, however, in a strong defensive performance by Liverpool, who head back to Anfield with a slight advantage in the battle to reach the last four.
Both sets of fans joined in a stirring rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ before kick-off and there was a nervous moment for Mignolet when the action got underway, the Liverpool goalkeeper dangerously cutting back across Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang when the Dortmund forward tried to charge down Mamadou Sakho’s backpass.
Sakho was in the right place to block Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s close-range effort in the 18th minute before his centre-back partner, Dejan Lovren, headed James Milner’s free-kick too close to Roman Weidenfeller and clattered into the Dortmund keeper in pursuit of the rebound.
That brought a lengthy delay, with Weidenfeller’s bloodied mouth necessitating a change of jersey, after which Dortmund put their visitors under increasing pressure – only to fall behind in the 36th minute. Milner leapt to flick on Alberto Moreno’s hopeful chipped pass and Origipowered onto the loose ball before seeing a low, right-footed shot clip Lukasz Piszczek’s heel and nestle in the bottom-left corner.
Lovren made a vital challenge to deny Aubameyang in first-half stoppage time and Marco Reus was unable to convert when Liverpool failed to clear the resulting corner.
Origi should have doubled his tally with the final act of the half, as Moreno picked apart a Dortmund offside trap in disarray, but his first touch took him too close to the embattled Weidenfeller, whose objections to the striker’s follow-up challenge earned him a yellow card.
An apparent recurrence of his persistent heel pain ended Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson’s evening at half-time, with Joe Allen introduced, while former Liverpool loanee Nuri Sahin replaced Erik Durm in the Dortmund midfield.
The hosts’ equaliser came within three minutes of the restart when Hummels was allowed a free run at Mkhitaryan’s right-wing cross to power a header past Mignolet.
Liverpool responded by forcing a succession of saves from Weidenfeller, who was superbly down to his right corner to keep out a powerful Philippe Coutinho strike before thwarting the Brazilian again on the rebound from Nathaniel Clyne’s long-range drive.
The intensity of the match dropped, somewhat inevitably, during the final half hour and Dortmund could not craft the opportunity for a winner, as Liverpool displayed a level of defensive discipline rarely associated with their performances this season to take a draw back to Merseyside.
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