Home, sweet home: Liverpool’s Juergen Klopp relishing Europa League return to Germany

German manager is back in his native country for the first time as Reds boss hunting a Europa League win at Augsburg

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Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp returns to Germany for the first time since he took the Liverpool job earlier this season. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:24pm, 18 Feb 2016Updated: 3:24pm, 18 Feb 2016

Juergen Klopp is back in Germany for the first time as Liverpool manager on Thursday hunting a Europa League win at Augsburg in his quest to quench the Reds’ thirst for silverware.

It’s nice to come back, but it’s not as though I fled Germany. I only left to work

Juergen Klopp

Klopp returns to the touchline of a Bundesliga ground for the first time since the 48-year-old quit Borussia Dortmund last season, before he replaced Brendan Rogers as Liverpool boss in October.

Fans have clamoured for tickets for the round of 32, first-leg clash at the WWK Arena in deepest Bavaria to see Liverpool, who are unbeaten in their six European games under Klopp and buoyed by Sunday’s 6-0 thrashing of Aston Villa.

Augsburg received 5,000 applications for just 2,000 away tickets for the Liverpool game, which will be a 26,160 sell-out.

The return leg is at Anfield on February 25, just three days before the Reds play Manchester City in the League Cup final.

Klopp is pleased to be back in familiar surroundings but is focussed on the job at hand. Photo: EPA

While he is glad to be back in his native country, the Liverpool boss is focused on the job in hand.

“It’s nice to come back, but it’s not as though I fled Germany. I only left to work,” he said, having ordered German specialities for his squad to eat at the hotel.