Klopp delighted with Dortmund showdown

Jürgen Klopp is looking forward to a tie "the whole world will watch" after his Liverpool side were pitted against his former club Dortmund in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals.

Klopp spent seven years at BVB before his departure last summer, winning two Bundesliga titles and leading the team to the 2013 UEFA Champions League final. Appointed Liverpool manager in October, he now faces a return to Dortmund for the quarter-final opener on 7 April, before the second leg at Anfield the following week.

"I am really happy to show the boys this wonderful stadium and a great city," he told Liverpool's official website. "It's a story only football can write. We're all happy. During the draw we had our video analysis meeting for Southampton and after that we were immediately training, so maybe my phone is full of messages – I need to have a look!"

The Reds overcame arch-rivals Manchester United to seal their last-eight berth, and Klopp is relishing the challenge of another high-profile UEFA Europa League contest. "Going to Dortmund and playing in Dortmund is one of the best things you can do in football. And then they are all 100% looking forward to coming to Anfield. It's football at its best and how it should be."

Sentiment aside, the 48-year-old is expecting a tough assignment against the Schwarzgelben, though he backs his own charges to raise their level when it counts. "They're a really strong opponent. But we are not bad too. Everybody knows our best games have been against really strong sides, so we know how to play this, we know how to handle it and we know a lot of Dortmund players – not all, but 98%. So it's open and two games that I think the whole world will watch."