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Jurgen Klopp insisted Divock Origi was ideally suited to facing Borussia Dortmund after the young Liverpool striker shone in the 1-1 draw at the Westfalenstadion.

The Reds boss, who insisted the tie was still “50-50” going into next Thursday’s second leg at Anfield, played down the significance of dropping Daniel Sturridge for the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final as Origi got the nod to start up front.

The 20-year-old frontman repaid the manager’s faith with a tireless performance in Germany which he capped with a precious away goal.

“Divock was made for this game with the space he can make and how he can hold the ball,” Klopp said.

“You have to try and imagine where you can have some small advantages and that’s what we did – it was nothing about Daniel.

“He has played the last games, it is completely normal. I know people say things about me taking him from the pitch after 60 minutes, but it is completely normal and now he is fresh for the game against Stoke.

“When Daniel came on he immediately had a brilliant moment. It was outstanding so you could see the impact he had. I cannot say we played better with Divock ahead of Daniel.

“It was not too brave to start Divock to be honest. He has had no rhythm because of injuries.

“He is a young lad and we have to work with him. If we have more than one player for each position then we can choose one game him, and another game him.”

Klopp was delighted with Liverpool’s display against his former club but was left to rue the lapse which allowed Mats Hummels to nod home an equaliser early in the second half.

“I am satisfied with a lot of parts of the game,” he said.

“Organisation was good, we were brave, disciplined, everything good. We were brilliant to be honest, we showed what we are capable of.

“Of course with a team like Dortmund with their quality you can not defend each pass, so you need to be fight and be organised and that’s what we did.

“We did it really well and we scored a wonderful goal.

'Sorry' - Klopp apologises for positioning at corner

“Then a set piece. That’s how it is in football - a fault for all of us.

“I decided to have Adam Lallana in this position instead of Origi, so sorry for this. But we were still in the game and had really big chances after. It fell into an almost perfect performance.

“Dortmund weren’t too clear in their performance. Always they changed, so always adapting to these changes in formation was not easy, but we did well.”

Asked about the reception he received on his return to Dortmund, Klopp added: “Of course this was an unusual situation with everything around the game, it was different than we were used to.

“There was applause which I took for me and I made a small gesture in return. The people here are very special and I felt good coming back, it’s a special place to come to.

“I think we saw the game is still 50-50 and Dortmund don’t care too much about where they are playing or where they score a goal.

“They are still a very strong team, but people thought a lot about our possible performance so they are perhaps a little surprised now.

“An away goal is really good, 100% better than a 0-0. It will still be really tight, and a really interesting clash.”