Klopp and Red Bull: A late love affair

Klopp went his way, which was beyond him Dortmund after Liverpool led. Salzburg failed to qualify for the Champions League for years – as Klopp predicted. But their paths were to cross again – in the premier class, of course. In 2019, the Reds won 4-3 at Anfield Road and 2-0 in Wals-Siezenheim. Even then, the star coach was impressed by the “young, fresh and exciting” Salzburg Red Bull football. In 2022, the Austrian league team turned the tables and won a friendly against Klopp’s Liverpool 1-0.

On the sidelines of this game, the German made people sit up and take notice. “It’s a football idea and not a money idea,” he told Red Bull at the time. The players he brought from the bullpen – sometimes via detours – are also proof of his appreciation: Kampl (to Dortmund), Mané, Keita, Minamino, Szoboszlai and Konate (to Liverpool). His former assistant Pep Lijnders has been Salzburg coach since the summer. And now sits more securely in his chair. With Bajcetic and Clark, two players also came from Liverpool.