Black Yellow vs. Reds: more than a reunion with Jürgen Klopp

But the two games against Liverpool FC in the quarter final of the UEFA Europa League are far more than a reunion with the successful Head Coach from 2008 to 2015. They will be the duel of two absolutely traditional clubs, whose fans are not only closely connected by the anthem "You'll never walk alone". Both clubs are the embodiment of a very special culture, both are also two of the strongest teams that are still in the competition. This is why many people would have preferred this duel to have taken place at a later stage in the competition. Now they are already facing each other in the quarter finals. Borussia Dortmund against Liverpool FC will still send a buzz through the European football world.

The club from Merseyside that was founded in 1892 belongs to the Who-is-Who in European club football and they are one of the most successful teams in Great Britain. They have won 18 English Championships, they have won the FA Cup seven times and the League Cup eight times and in addition the "Reds" have won the UEFA Champions League and the European Cup, as it used to be called, on five occasions and the UEFA Europa League (formerly the UEFA Cup) on three occasions. Big titles come almost part and parcel with Liverpool FC, even if the last great title win (apart from the League Cup in 2012 and the FA Cup in 2006) was nearly eleven years ago (2005), when they won the UEFA Champions League in such dramatic fashion against AC Milan.

Liverpool knocked ManUnited out of the competition

Jürgen Klopp's team reached the quarter final of this year's UEFA Europa League by winning Group B with two wins and four draws, then they knocked out FC Augsburg 1-0 on aggregate over two legs. In the round of the last 16 they had a very difficult task, as they faced their fierce rivals Manchester United, but Liverpool went through with bravado: after winning the first leg 2-0, a 1-1 draw in the 2nd leg on Thursday against the "Red Devils" was enough to see them through.

Their current form in the Premier League is not quite as impressive. They are eighth in the table and trail Leicester City in first place by 19 points. However they still have a good chance of qualifying for European competition, as they trail fifth place West Ham United by five points. Either way, BVB will face the next very big hurdle after Porto and Tottenham if they want to get through to the final in Basel on the 18.May.

Especially as both teams have a completely even record at international level. They have faced each other three times. In the Champions League group stage 2001/02 the 1st leg in Dortmund ended 0-0. The Reds managed to win 2-0 at home on the last match day of Group B, and this meant BVB were eliminated from the competition.

Held and Libuda in Glasgow

However the Black Yellows won the probably most important game between Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool FC. "Siggi" Held and "Stan" Libuda scored for BVB at Hampden Park in Glasgow in 1966 to win the European Cup Winner's Cup. It was the first international title for a German team

Information regarding advanced ticket sales for the first leg on the 7.April in Dortmund will be available soon. You will find reactions to the draw here. (djg)