When Jurgen Klopp took over at Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2008, he was inheriting a squad that had finished 13th in the Bundesliga the season before. With their last Bundesliga win coming in 2002, they hadn't competed in the Champions League since 2002/03 and hadn't participated in European competition since 2003/04.
That 2002 first place finish fell to a Bundesliga third place then sixth place, before successive seventh place finishes were followed by a ninth place finish and then the aforementioned 13th place finish in BVB’s final season pre-Klopp. Struggling financially, Dortmund were a club on the decline, but, as the German has since done at Liverpool, he quickly turned doubters into believers and reversed their fortunes.
Initial improvements in his first two seasons saw Dortmund qualify for the Europa League through league position in 2009/10. They'd then win back-to-back Bundesliga titles, which included a league and cup double in 2011/12, and returned to the Champions League in the process.
