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Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp: Europa comeback can inspire next generation

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp hopes his team's remarkable Europa League comeback against Borussia Dortmund can be his side's Istanbul moment and inspire the next generation of players.

A thrilling quarterfinal second-leg saw the Reds recover from 2-0 and 3-1 down to score three times in the last 24 minutes and knock out the Germans.

It was an unexpected result against a team of Dortmund's quality and brought back memories of the famous comeback from 3-0 down at half-time in the 2005 Champions League final against AC Milan, in Turkey.

Klopp used that as inspiration in his half-time team talk on Thursday and hopes his side's performance will have a similar effect on younger players in years to come.

"I had a lot of games in my life and not too many like this," Klopp said.

"We used the story of Istanbul and maybe the next generation of Liverpool players will use these two games -- '3-1 down [on aggregate, having conceded two away goals] and then 4-2 down, no problem, our grandfathers showed us that it is possible.' That will be nice."

In the shorter-term Klopp hopes the knock-on effect will be felt by his own players.

Lying eighth in the table, 11 points off the top four, it would be easy for all the focus to be on their forthcoming Europa League semifinal against Villarreal.

However, Klopp wants to see the benefits of the win over Dortmund in the three Premier League matches before they fly out to Spain at the end of the month -- starting at Bournemouth on Sunday.

And he believes this week provided an important lesson in the side's development.

"There are a few obvious things you learn like never give up," he added.

"You need things like this to believe in things. If you read it in a book you think, 'Oh nice,' but it is really rare.

"It is a really big thing to be involved in something like this. Most footballers play their whole lives and are not involved in something like this but have successful careers.

"It is a drama in a positive way, you can use it in the next situation, but it does not mean it always works.

"The other thing is if you have the right plan you have to carry on.

"We didn't concede the goals because we played bad, we conceded the goals because we lost the ball in a moment where we tried to play football. Then you saw all of the quality and confidence of Dortmund.

"But that doesn't mean anything about your game -- only we should not do this again. That is what you have to learn.

"If you are convinced about your plan, do it. Football is a game that doesn't work without mistakes, that is how it is, but you have to do as many things perfect as possible."

Injuries aside -- midfielder Emre Can became the latest player to be ruled out for the remainder of the season with ankle ligament damage -- Klopp will make unenforced changes for the trip to the south coast.

Without Can and captain Jordan Henderson, another whose campaign was last week ended by a knee problem, there are spots up for grabs in midfield.

The most likely beneficiaries are Joe Allen, who has been impressive in a number of short substitute appearances, and Lucas Leiva after his return to fitness.

"It would be better if they were still involved," Klopp said of his injured duo.

"It is a really good opportunity for Joe Allen. Lucas is here, Kevin Stewart is here and we have Pedro Chirivella and Cameron Brannagan so we have a few boys still for central positions.

"We cannot bring them altogether but we have to give them confidence to believe they can do it, especially with the young boys."

Allen is down to the last 14 months of his contract and no talks have yet been held over a new deal.

However, Klopp did not rule out an extension when he was asked whether the Wales international had a future at the club.

"Of course. It is not for me to decide now," he added. "Since I've been here he was too often injured but now is in a great shape. For me it is not the time for me to talk about this."