Europa League draw: Liverpool face Borussia Dortmund in quarter-finals as Jurgen Klopp returns to former club

Klopp will return to Dortmund less than a year after leaving the Bundesliga side

Jurgen Klopp will return to Borussia Dortmund with Liverpool in the Europa League quarter-finals (Getty Images)

Jurgen Klopp will face his former side after Liverpool were drawn against Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League quarter-final.

After defeating bitter rivals Manchester United in the last-16 on Thursday night courtesy of a 3-1 aggregate victory, Klopp made it clear that he wanted to avoid Dortmund until the final if possible, having left the Bundesliga side at the end of last season.

The 48-year-old German enjoyed success at the Signal Iduna Park as he led Dortmund to two Bundesliga titles as well as the German Cup during a brilliant run across the 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons, while Dortmund also reached the Champions League final in 2012/13 when they lost out to Bayern Munich.

The draw means there will be no fairytale final for Klopp though, and sees Liverpool arguably draw the toughest opponent left in the competition in what is a serious blow to their hopes of winning the competition and qualifying for the Champions League next season.

The first leg will be played on 7 April in Dortmund, before Anfield hosts the return leg a week later on 14 April.

Elsewhere, back-to-back Europa League winners and defending champions Sevilla take on Spanish rivals Athletic Bilbao in a mouth-watering tie, with Unai Emery’s side already the most successful club in Uefa Cup and Europa League history, having lifted the trophy an unmatched four times – all of which have come since 2005/06.

Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk may fancy their chances of a semi-final berth after being drawn against Portuguese side Braga, while the remaining fixture sees La Liga side Villarreal take on Czech Republic side Sparta Prague.

Europa League quarter-final draw:

Braga vs Shakhtar Donetsk

Villarreal vs Sparta Prague

Athletic Bilbao vs Sevilla

Borussia Dortmund vs Liverpool