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Jurgen Klopp is gearing up for his third Champions League final appearance as a manager, with his Liverpool side set to take on Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday night. While Liverpool start as overwhelming favourites - due to their European pedigree and the fact that they finished 26 points ahead of Spurs this season in the EPL - they will still be haunted by their Champions League final loss from last year.
Another worrying aspect for the Reds is Klopp's record in Cup finals. During his stint at Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool, Klopp led his team to seven major finals and found himself on the losing end in six of them.
While that shouldn't be much of a factor against a Tottenham side who has not won a title other than the League Cup in the last 20 years and led by a manager who has not won a title at all, it is a damning statistic that Klopp would desperately want to tidy up in his resume. Not to mention, defeat against a side whose potential starting eleven cost £200 million less than Liverpool's would be nothing short of a disaster for Klopp.
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This list focusses on Klopp and the 7 major cup finals he has been in as a manager. The DFB Supercups - German's equivalent of the Community Shield - haven't been considered.
#1 2012 DFB Pokal: Dortmund 5-2 Bayern
The 2011-12 season was a highly successful one for Klopp and his beloved Dortmund side. Die Schwarzgelben swept to a rare German double, finishing eight points ahead of Bayern Munich in the league and beating Die Roten in the DFB Pokal - The German Cup - as well.
The Cup final was played at Berlin's Olympiastadion and a Dortmund side comprising of Kagawa, Hummels and Lewandowski pummeled Bayern from the get-go. Kagawa scored inside the first three minutes and Dortmund rushed to a 3-1 lead by half-time, eventually running out 5-2 winners.
Lewandowski would score a hattrick against his future employers and Klopp celebrated another triumph over his Bayern counterpart Jupp Heynckes.
He had no idea of the dark days that were just around the corner.
#2 2013 Champions League: Dortmund 1-2 Bayern
Having established Dortmund as powerhouses in Germany, Klopp turned his attention to continental glory for the 2012-13 season. The Champions League campaign saw Der BVB top a group comprising of Real Madrid and Manchester City and underline their title credentials with a 4-1 destruction of Real in the semi-final first leg at Signal Iduna Park.
After weathering the Madrid storm in the second leg, Dortmund set up the final with bitter rivals Bayern. Jupp Heynckes had cultivated a 'never again' mentality among his Bayern players and despite a close match, Klopp found himself on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline with Arjen Robben slotting home the winner for Bayern with a minute of regular time remaining.
That season would be a defining one as Bayern took back their status as the premier German team, with Heynckes' side beating Dortmund in the DFL Super Cup and DFB Pokal in addition to winning the Bundesliga a whopping 25 points ahead of Klopp's side en route to a phenomenal 'Quadruple'.
#3 2014 DFB Pokal: Dortmund 0-2 Bayern
Another competition - another loss to Bayern courtesty of another Arjen Robben goal.
Pep Guardiola had taken charge at the Allianz Arena and his Bayern side once again came out on top against Klopp's Dortmund in the 2014 DFB Pokal final. The match was very close, with extra time required to separate the two sides.
Once again, Arjen Robben broke the hearts of Dortmund supporters - this time with a 107th-minute strike before future World Cup hero Thomas Muller added a second in injury time. The victory gave Bayern yet another domestic double, with Dortmund second - 19 points behind Guardiola's side.
A promising Champions League season was halted by Real Madrid and the end of the season saw Lewandowski leave Dortmund for Bayern and the next year, Klopp would also depart Signal Iduna Park.
#4 2015 DFB Pokal: Dortmund 1-3 Wolfsburg
2015 would be Klopp's last at Dortmund and it turned out to be his most disappointing season, with BVB finishing a lowly seventh - 33 points behind Champions Bayern and out of the Champions League places.
But the season promised to end on a positive note, with Dortmund eliminating Bayern from the DFB Pokal in the semifinals, setting up the title clash with Wolfsburg. The Wolves had never won the competition in their history and it looked like it would stay that way when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored in the fifth minute to put Klopp's side ahead.
But the Wolfsburg side comprising of Kevin De Bruyne, Ivan Perisic and Bas Dost scored thrice in 15 minutes to take the match 3-1. Klopp was heartbroken at the end, saying that he would need time to get over the loss as he waved a tearful farewell to the club he made great again.
#5 2016 League Cup: Liverpool 1(1) - 1(3) Man City
It was Manuel Pellegrini's turn to deny Klopp another Cup final victory in 2016 when Klopp's Liverpool lost to the former's Manchester City side in the League Cup final.
Liverpool had clawed their way back into the game after trailing for most of the second half to a Fernadinho goal. An 83rd-minute equalizer from Coutinho after Adam Lallana's initial shot came off the post eventually led to extra time and penalty shootouts. Liverpool were reasonably confident going into the shootouts, having seen off Carlisle United and Stoke City in the same format.
They began well, with Emre Can slotting the ball past Willy Caballero and Simon Mignolet denying Fernandinho to give Liverpool the lead. But they proceeded to miss all their remaining spot-kicks while Jesus Navas, Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure all stepped up to score for City, handing Klopp a loss in his first final in England.
#6 2016 Europa League: Liverpool 1-3 Sevilla
Klopp suffered his fifth straight final defeat a few months after the League Cup heartbreak. The venue was St. Jakob's Park in Basel for the Europa League final against perennial competition winner Sevilla and the score ended 3-1 in favour of Unai Emery's side.
Liverpool had gone into the break with a 1-0 lead but second-half strikes from Coke (2) and Kevin Gameiro meant that Sevilla extended their Europa League title record with a fifth Championship.
Despite the defeat, that campaign had a lot of positives for the Reds, who had eliminated bitter rivals Manchester United in the second round before winning a thrilling tie against Klopp's old side Borussia Dortmund in the quarterfinals. Klopp would slowly build a foundation to make Liverpool a better side, with the likes of Mo Salah and Xherdan Shaqiri arriving in the subsequent seasons.
#7 2018 Champions League: Liverpool 1 -3 Real Madrid
There was nothing Klopp could have done to save the 2018 Champions League final for Liverpool.
The Real Madrid side comprising of Ronaldo, Benzema and Bale was certainly superior to Klopp's Liverpool team and things took a turn for the worse when Klopp's best player Mo Salah left the pitch in agony in the 31st minute after a collision with Sergio Ramos. Liverpool still managed to reach half time without conceding a goal, but the second half of the game was the worst 45 minutes in goalkeeper Loris Karius' career.
Karius had been in fine form for Liverpool leading up to the match, but somehow lost his concentration and threw the ball straight at Karim Benzema who was able to overcome his surprise and slot the ball into the back of the net.
Liverpool did equalize somehow through Sadio Mane, but a moment of magic from substitute Gareth Bale restored Los Blancos' advantage as an acrobatic bicycle kick - which might well be the best goal in Champions League final history - beat Karius in the 64th minute.
15 minutes later, Bale attempted a speculative 40 yard shot at a shell shocked Karius, who allowed the ball to slip through his hands in to the net to give Real a deserved 3-1 victory.
Klopp defended Karius after the match, but promptly sent him out on loan to Besiktas and soon signed his replacement - the former Roma man Allisson who became the final piece of jigsaw in building the next great Liverpool side.
