Klopp: Career highlights of a charismatic coach

Jurgen Klopp will take charge of Borussia Dortmund for the final time in Saturday’s DFB-Pokal final against Wolfsburg, bringing the curtain down on a successful seven-year stint at the club.

After 18 years at Mainz, where he served as player and coach, Klopp moved to Signal Iduna Park in 2008 and led Dortmund to three major trophies – two Bundesliga titles as well as one Pokal crown.

In April, Klopp announced he would leave the club at the end of the season, believing he was no longer the right man to take Dortmund forward, with Thomas Tuchel named as his replacement.

It remains to be seen where his next destination will be – with a year’s sabbatical a possibility – but Klopp is unlikely to be short of potential suitors.

We take a look at his career to date.

February 2001: Appointed Mainz coach

After 11 years and more than 300 appearances as a player at Mainz, Klopp was installed as caretaker boss. Having helped the club avoid relegation to the third tier, he was then awarded a permanent deal.

May 2004: Leads Mainz to Bundesliga for first time in history

After two near misses, Klopp led Mainz to the top flight for the first time in their history in his third full season in charge. Mainz finished third in 2. Bundesliga, holding off the challenge of Energie Cottbus with a 3-0 final-day win over Eintracht Trier.

May 2005: Secures UEFA Cup qualification via Fair Play League

Thanks to their Fair Play ranking, Mainz reached the 2005-06 UEFA Cup, although they fell at the first hurdle as eventual champions Sevilla prevailed 2-0 over two legs.

July 2008: Takes the reins at Dortmund

Although Mainz’s three-season stay in the Bundesliga came to an end in 2007, Klopp chose to stay at the club. However, when he failed to deliver promotion at the end of the 2007-08 campaign, he resigned and went on to take over from Thomas Doll at Dortmund, who had finished 13th the previous season.

April 2011: Dortmund seal the Bundesliga title

A 2-0 home win over Nuremberg, combined with a 2-0 loss for Bayer Leverkusen at Cologne, secured Dortmund’s first league crown for nine years. Goals from Lucas Barrios and Robert Lewandowski signalled party time at Signal Iduna Park.

April 2012: Back-to-back league crowns

Dortmund sealed a second consecutive Bundesliga title with two games to spare 12 months later, thanks to a 2-0 home victory over Borussia Monchengladbach. Ivan Perisic and Shinji Kagawa were the heroes this time, as Dortmund claimed back-to-back Bundesliga crowns for the second time in their history.

May 2012: Dortmund hammer Bayern to do the double

After celebrating the league title, Dortmund showed no signs of a hangover with this 5-2 demolition of Bayern in the DFB-Pokal final. Klopp’s side took an early lead through Kagawa, but it was Lewandowski who stole the headlines with a hat-trick as Dortmund celebrated their first double in some style.

May 2013: Klopp guides the club to UEFA Champions League final

Klopp led the club to only its second Champions League final, with a run that was full of drama. Two goals in stoppage time of the second leg of their quarter-final with Malaga saw them through to the semis, where they saw off Real Madrid thanks largely to a 4-1 demolition in the home leg – Lewandowski scoring all four. However, they were undone 2-1 by Bayern in the final at Wembley, leading Klopp to proclaim: “The only thing I can say is that it was great. London is the town of the Olympic Games. The weather was good, everything is OK. Only the result is s***.”

May 2015: Klopp bids an emotional farewell

After a 3-2 defeat of Werder Bremen, Klopp fought back the tears as he said goodbye to the Signal Iduna Park faithful with an emotional speech. Will his reign end with one final highlight against Wolfsburg this weekend?