Klopp - Dortmund Win Will Inspire Team For Decades

It's 48 hours later and I have finished my fourth full viewing of Liverpool's comeback victory over Borussia Dortmund to advance to the Europa League semi-final. It was another magical European night at Anfield -- the first of its kind for manager Jurgen Klopp, and likely many recent Liverpool converts.The only game that would even come close in the post-Rafa era would probably be Steven Gerrard's fifteen minute hat trick in the second half to secure victory over Napoli in the 2010-2011 Europa League group stages, a game which was also John Henry's first Anfield experience. And let's be honest -- in terms of significance and the difficulty of their opponent, there's really no comparison.

About the importance of this experience to the players, Klopp said,

"If you read it in a book you think 'oh nice but it is really rare'. It is a really big thing to be involved in something like this. Most footballers play their whole lives and are not involved in something like this but have pretty successful careers. It is a drama in a positive way so that is really nice. You can use it in the next situation but it does not mean it always works.

"The other thing is if you have the right plan you have to carry on. We didn’t concede the goals because we played bad, we conceded the goals because we lost the ball in a moment where we tried to play football. It was a misunderstanding for the first goal between Alberto (Moreno) and Philippe (Coutinho). Those two boys usually work really good.

"Then you saw all of the quality and confidence of Dortmund, but that doesn’t mean anything about your game – only we should not do this again. That is what you have to learn. If you are convinced about your plan, do it. You know about the spaces and where you can play.

"Football is a game that doesn’t work without mistakes. That is how it is. The ball is too round, the pitch is too green.... You have to do as many things perfect as possible."

Just like the fairy tale of Istanbul, which happened over ten years ago now, still resonates with fans and inspires this new generation of Liverpool players, Klopp believes Thursday's game will serve to inspire the next batch of Liverpool players to believe that with this club, miracles can happen.

He explained, "I've had a lot of games in my life and not too many like this. Being involved in something like that is always beneficial. You can keep it and take it. We used the story of Istanbul and maybe the next generation of Liverpool players will use this game: '3-1 down and then 4-2 down, no problem, our grandfathers showed us that it is possible'. That will be nice. There are a few things you learn like never give up. You need things like this to believe in things."

Moving forward with the season, hopefully the team will use this momentum to propel themselves past Villarreal and also see out a strong finish in the league. AFC Bournemouth is their next challenge on Sunday, when they travel to the Vitality Stadium to take on the Cherries.