Jurgen Klopp didn't have many "bogey clubs" at Liverpool, but Sevilla was arguably one of them. Even so, he still turned one of his most disappointing nights in charge into a resounding delivery on a promise .
Liverpool faces Sevilla today in pre-season, and Arne Slot will be hoping to succeed where Klopp repeatedly could not. The German failed to beat the La Liga outfit in three competitive attempts.
The two sides drew 2-2 and 3-3 in entertaining Champions League group stage matches in 2017. But the more significant meeting came in 2016, when Klopp suffered defeat in the Europa League final.
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Klopp's first shot at silverware with Liverpool in his debut season, as well as a ticket to Champions League qualification, it ended in crushing disappointment. The Reds took the lead through a Daniel Sturridge goal worthy of winning any final, but the Europa League specialists mounted a second-half comeback to win 3-1.
By this point, the reputation of losing finals was starting to stick to Klopp, who had endured similar disappointments at Borussia Dortmund. But while he could have licked his wounds, he instead came out with a characteristic promise to fans.
"To be honest, what I think about not being in the Champions League, is that we have to use the time," he said after the match. "It is not about the size of the squad, it is about using the time in training to get better.
"I promise everybody we will use it and come back stronger. It was 50-60 per cent of our usual quality and we have to accept that. We will come back."
While unable to exact revenge on Sevilla in their next two meetings, it's significant that those clashes occurred in the Champions League. That was only possible because Liverpool had regrouped and secured qualification through its league finish in 2016/17.
Liverpool would then get all the way to the final in that Champions League run. Klopp would taste defeat once again, but responded by returning to the same stage the following season and winning it. The Premier League was won a year after that.
That's how you keep a promise. And while Slot will undoubtedly want to help Liverpool finally get one over on Sevilla, he knows he will have to reach some lofty heights to match the legacy Klopp leaves behind.
Liverpool.com says: Klopp just never let Liverpool heads drop. His team was a lesson in resilience.
Every setback seemed to make the side stronger. It's hard to imagine Liverpool's journey under Klopp without that loss to Sevilla in the Europa League final — th ere can be no doubt that he kept his promise and then some.
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