Jurgen Klopp's greatest ever XI featuring Liverpool and Dortmund stars | OneFootball

Highlights

Jurgen Klopp has established himself as one of the best coaches of this generation, winning multiple trophies in two different countries with Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool.

Having built some of the most transformative sides of the last 10 years, Klopp is considered a hero in both Dortmund and Liverpool, with the German manager overseeing successful periods in the pair's history.

In Dortmund, Klopp guided the Bundesliga giants to consecutive titles in 2010/11 and 2011/12, winning two German Super Cups and one DFB Pokal title along the way, while also steering them to the Champions League final in 2012/13.

Since arriving at Liverpool in 2015, Klopp has taken his - and the Merseyside outfit's - game to the next level, winning every domestic trophy on offer, while also tasting glory in the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup too.

A revolutionary tactician and the man who popularised the 'Gegenpressing' style, he will go down as one of football's great managers and, to celebrate, GIVEMESPORT have put together an all-time XI made up of the best players Klopp has coached.

GK: Alisson Becker

Joining Liverpool in the wake of the 2017/18 Champions League final, where two Loris Karius mistakes cost the Reds against Real Madrid, the signing of Alisson Becker marked the start of a new era for Klopp and Co.

Splashing a world-record fee for a goalkeeper on the Brazil international, Alisson joined from Serie A outfit Roma, costing Liverpool an eye-opening £67 million.

It would prove value for money, as Alisson shone for Liverpool en route to their 2018/19 Champions League win, being named in the Team of the Tournament, before going on to amass over 240 appearances for Liverpool between the sticks.

Another one of Liverpool's 2018/19 Champions League winners now, Trent Alexander-Arnold may be best remembered for his quickly taken corner against Barcelona in that year's competition, but he has been an ever-present in Klopp's Liverpool side.

First breaking through from the academy in 2016, under the tutelage of Klopp, Alexander-Arnold has been responsible for redefining the way a modern-day fullback operates.

While he is now operating as a full-back-midfielder hybrid, Alexander-Arnold remains an integral part of the Liverpool set-up under Klopp, with the local lad having already etched his name in Reds folklore as one of their best-ever academy products.

CB: Mats Hummels

Unsurprisingly, given the success Klopp has enjoyed at Anfield, this list is dominated with players from his time with Liverpool, but defender Mats Hummels gets a spot as the first of two centre-backs in this concept XI.

Playing 242 times under Klopp at Dortmund, Hummels was the main man at the back for BVB during their era of success. Following Klopp's departure in 2015, Hummels himself would move on to bigger and better things, signing for Bayern Munich, where he won eight major honours during a three-year stint, before returning to Dortmund in 2019.

Dubbed the 'best German defender' by Klopp back in 2019, Hummels represents an easy pick in the centre of defence.

CB: Virgil van Dijk

As for the other centre back space, there can be little debate around the inclusion of current Reds captain Virgil van Dijk, whose transfer to Anfield back in 2018 was one of the catalysts behind the club's latest period of success.

Labelled the best-ever Premier League central defender by former Watford and Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster, van Dijk has proved value for the £75 million Liverpool paid - another world-record transfer for a player in his positon.

A winner of the Champions League, Premier League and various other major honours during his seven years with the club, van Dijk won't only be remembered as one of the best-ever players Klopp has coached, but he's also likely to go down as an outright Liverpool legend.

While Andrew Robertson's body might've caught up with him in recent months, the Scottish left-back remains a key player under Klopp, and much like the teammates that have come before him in this list, has been crucial to Liverpool's recent success.

Having had the left-hand side of Premier League and Champions League pitches locked down for the last half-a-decade or so, Robertson is a shining example of Klopp's coaching abilities, with the left-back having arrived from Championship side Hull City for £8 million in 2017.

Transformed into one of the Premier League's best-ever left-backs, Robertson has registered over 23,000 minutes in a Liverpool shirt under Klopp's watchful eye.

With quite a few top-class midfielders to pick from during Klopp's time as a manager, Fabinho gets the nod at the base of a midfield three, despite the Brazilian currently plying his trade in Saudi Arabia.

Costing £43 million when the Reds signed him from Monaco back in the summer of 2018, Fabinho was the final piece in the jigsaw Liverpool needed to compete on a continental stage.

Part of the team that were crowned European champions for the sixth time, the current Al-Ittihad star featured over 200 times for Liverpool under Klopp and remains the best pick for holding midfield in this team.

CM: Ilkay Gundogan

There's a certain sense of irony in that Ilkay Gundogan - a player nurtured by Klopp during his time at Dortmund - would go on to deny the German manager his greatest-ever achievement as a manager, by scoring a last-minute title-winning goal for Manchester City to end Liverpool's hopes of winning the quadruple in 2021/22.

Granted, the Merseyside outfit would go on to lose the Champions League final against Real Madrid in Paris, but had it not been for the silky midfielder, Klopp might've had two Premier League titles to his name.

Gundogan stayed at Dortmund beyond Klopp's departure, before eventually signing for City in 2016, where he'd enjoy a fruitful seven years, before eventually leaving as their treble-winning captain last summer.

CM: Mario Gotze

From one scorer of big goals to another now, and Mario Gotze can lay claim to having scored the biggest of them all in the 2014 World Cup final.

Delivering Germany their first World Cup since Italia 1990, Gotze's extra-time strike will go down in history, but the 5ft 7in midfielder had originally caught the eye playing under Klopp at Dortmund.

Leaving for Bayern Munich in controversial fashion during Klopp's reign, Gotze was imperative for Dortmund during their back-to-back league wins. And while he may have failed to live up to his full potential since, you can't go wrong with having a World Cup-winning goalscorer in your team, right?

Perhaps the easiest pick on this list, not only is Mohamed Salah a lock for the right-wing position, but there's every chance he goes down as the greatest-ever player coached by Klopp altogether.

With over 200 Liverpool goals to his name, the dominative winger has captured the imaginations of the Anfield faithful time and time again, playing over 320 times for the Premier League club.

Klopp himself called Salah the 'best player in the world' in 2021, illustrating just how much the Egyptian international is revered by the ex-BVB chief. And to think he only cost Liverpool £34 million from Roma back in 2017 - bargain of the century!

Coming off the opposite flank is Salah's partner in crime, with Sadio Mane taking up the left-wing slot in a team made up of the best players managed by Klopp.

While it may have come to light that Salah and Mane weren't actually the best of friends behind closed doors, the two certainly knew how to work together on the pitch, striking up a devastating partnership for Liverpool between 2017 and 2022.

Netting 120 goals in 269 matches for the 19-time English champions, Mane would eventually call time on his Liverpool career in the summer of 2022, when he joined Bayern Munich as part of a £35 million deal. Now earning big bucks out in Saudi Arabia for Al-Nassr, Mane remains one of Liverpool's modern-day legends and was an easy pick for this XI.

And finally, the only thing stopping a clean sweep in attack for Liverpool, Robert Lewandowski. A devastating striker and one of the best of his generation, the Polish international's skills were crafted by Klopp during his four-year stint at Dortmund.

Famously having nearly signed for Blackburn Rovers, Lewandowski would go on to feature 186 times under Klopp, scoring 102 goals and winning four major honours during that time.

Unlike most of the other Dortmund players on this list, Lewandowski would leave Dortmund before Klopp, signing for Bayern Munich, where he went on to add a further 19 trophies to his cabinet, including the 2019/20 Champions League. A truly phenomenal talent and one who has the genius of Klopp to thank for his breakthrough moment in the game.