Jürgen Klopp oversees goal-filled Borussia Dortmund testimonial for Łukasz Piszczek and Jakub Błaszczykowski
Jürgen Klopp was back in the Signal Iduna Park dugout on Saturday for a testimonial game for Borussia Dortmund legends Łukasz Piszczek and Jakub Błaszczykowski, which ended in a 5-4 victory for the latter's team.
Dubbed as an 'Abschiedszczspiel', a play on the German word for farewell and the players' surnames, 81,365 fans flocked to Dortmund's stadium to witness an entertaining encounter featuring a host of famous names past and present.
In addition to the two former Poland internationals, who helped shape some of the most successful years in Dortmund’s history between 2010 and 2015, were players and coaches who had accompanied them along the way, including Klopp, current BVB coach Nuri Şahin, Julian Brandt, Mats Hummels and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, among many others.
Watch: Yellow Wall honour Klopp, Hummels, Piszczek and Błaszczykowski
Piszczek and Błaszczykowski played a combined total of 517 games in Black and Yellow, and helped BVB win the Bundesliga title in 2011 and 2012, as well as the DFB Cup.
Prior to kick-off, Hummels was given a warm farewell after leaving the club when his contract expired at the end of June. Having recently signed for Serie A side AS Roma after making 508 competitive appearances for Dortmund, the centre-back flew in especially for the game and was given a standing ovation by the crowd.
The match itself was an end-to-end spectacle, including an eye-catching dink from Şahin, as well as former striker Lucas Barrios twice finding the net. The fans took to their feet in the 89th minute when Piszczek and Błaszczykowski were substituted off to thunderous applause.
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Team Błaszczykowski
Roman Weidenfeller, Jakub Błaszczykowski, Mats Hummels, Julian Koch, Dede, Neven Subotic, Felipe Santana, Marcin Wasilewski, Patrick Owomoyela, Moritz Leitner, Antonio da Silva, Giovanni Federico, Kevin Großkreutz, Kamil Grosicki, Mohamed Zidan, Lucas Barrios, Mladen Petric, Nelson Valdez, Ebi Smolarek
Coach and staff
Jürgen Klopp (coach), Fritz Lünschermann (assistant), Markus Braun, Florian Wangler, Teddy de Beer, Frank Gräfen, Franz-Josef Meise, Andreas Beck, Thomas Zetzmann, Hanns Sieger, Horst Lutz
Sporting director
Michael Zorc
Watch: The best of Łukasz Piszczek
Team Piszczek:
Marwin Hitz, Jaroslav Drobny, Piszczek, Joo-Hoo Park, Marcel Schmelzer, Ömer Toprak, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Erik Durm, Nuri Şahin, Oliver Kirch, Florian Kringe, Gonzalo Castro, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Jacek Krzynowek, Artur Wichniarek, Adrian Ramos, Julian Schieber, Dominik Zieba, Krzysztof Kiklaisz
Coach and staff
Peter Krawietz (coach), Paul Pluta (assistant), Peter Kuhnt, Christian Schulz, Ciro Maglione, Swantje Thomsen, Christian Zetzmann, Michael Rohling
Sporting director
Sebastian Kehl
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