Liverpool toil as Klopp’s old Dortmund team shine

Emre Can celebrates scoring the first goal for Liverpool with Adam Lallana: Reuters

Reuters: Juergen Klopp got a taste of the problems at Liverpool as his first home game as manager ended in a frustrating 1-1 draw against Rubin Kazan who played more than 50 minutes with 10 men in the Europa League on Thursday.

As Klopp’s new charges struggled to break down limited Russian opponents, the German’s former side Borussia Dortmund were ruthless with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring a superbly-executed hat-trick.

Dortmund secured a 3-1 win at Azerbaijani outfit Qabala on a night when Anderlecht came from behind to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in a 1984 UEFA Cup final rematch and Sporting Lisbon thumped Albanian side Skenderbeu 5-1.

Spain’s Villarreal continued their bright start to the season with a 4-0 victory over Dinamo Minsk but Fiorentina suffered a surprise 2-1 home defeat by Lech Poznan and former European champions Celtic lost 3-1 at Norwegians Molde.

Klopp had warned Liverpool fans he had no stardust to sprinkle on the squad and magically turn around their poor early-season form and Thursday’s display proved him right.

Kazan silenced the boisterous home crowd when they took the lead through Marko Devic’s superb rising finish but a red card in the 36th minute for captain Oleg Kuzmin changed the dynamic of the match and handed Liverpool a route back.

However, after Emre Can levelled from close range, the hosts huffed and puffed and created little to leave Liverpool trailing Group B leaders Sion by four points.

“Tonight is not an absolute masterclass but it’s not the worst day in my life,” Klopp told reporters.

“Sometimes it’s a big advantage against 10 men. Sometimes it’s a thankless job.”