European record Jurgen Klopp can achieve with win over LASK

Liverpool get their Europa League campaign underway on Thursday night in Austria, where Jurgen Klopp can achieve something no Reds manager has before.

Klopp's side kick off Group E against LASK, with the manager promising to take Europe's second-tier competition seriously, rather than as a testing ground for youngsters and fringe stars.

The Reds are early favourite to reach the final in Dublin and have the highest UEFA co-efficient of any team in the group stages.

Thursday's clash will mark Liverpool's first game in the Europa League since 2016, when the Reds lost the final to Sevilla during Klopp's first season in charge.

Since then, it's been only the Champions League for Liverpool, but the return to the Europa provides Klopp with the opportunity for a new record.

Should his side achieve victory on Thursday, Klopp will become the first Liverpool manager to record 50 wins in European competition.

Currently, both Klopp and Rafa Benitez are tied on 49 wins.

While Klopp has enjoyed tremendous European success during his time with Liverpool – winning the 2019 Champions League and reaching two more finals – his personal record in the Europa League is somewhat patchy.

READ MORE: Jurgen Klopp's record in the Europa League

The 56-year-old has managed 23 matches in the Europa League/UEFA Cup (not including qualification rounds), winning just eight, drawing nine and losing six, giving him a win rate of 34.7%.

Six of those victories, however, came as he guided Liverpool to the 2015/16 final – beating the likes of Dortmund and Manchester United along the way, before losing to Sevilla.

Speaking ahead of the tie with LASK, Klopp reflected on how far his team has come since they last played in the Europa League, seven years ago.

"My first year I thought the Europa League was a bit too much for us until we came to the final, because we played every day pretty much," Klopp said.

"Wherever we had to fly to were long trips, coming back and trying to become a team somehow. The results helped obviously.

"We played in Switzerland, in Sion, it was, I’m not sure if it was artificial grass but it was a frozen pitch. I hope it will not be like that, to be honest.

READ MORE: Where are they now? Liverpool's last starting XI in the Europa League

"It was a different squad, we were actually not ready and we came somehow through. In the end in the quarter-finals and semi-finals we played outstandingly well, that’s true, but until then I don’t think we were exceptional, let me say it like this.

"But I wouldn’t compare it, it’s completely different. It’s a different time, a different team, we are better prepared for the competition. It doesn’t mean we will go to the final, it just means we are better prepared and we enjoy it more to be here than we did that time because we had no clue what we had to expect."

Should Klopp triumph next May, he will become only the second Liverpool manager (after Bob Paisley) to win both the Champions League and Europa League.