Champions League: Shinji Kagawa is back where he belongs playing for Borussia Dortmund and Jurgen Klopp

“The best moment was the ‘Shinji Kagawa’ chant during the warm-up. It hasn’t been that loud for a long time.” Jurgen Klopp isn’t one to mask his excitement. Shinji Kagawa is back in more ways than one.

After starting the move for the opening goal by Adrian Ramos in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Freiburg, Kagawa really had the Westfalenstadion rocking soon after when he marked his return with a goal. This time Ramos turned provider, Henrik Mkhitaryan delightfully dummying his cross before Kagawa gave the goalkeeper the eyes to slot neatly home at the near post.

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It was a trademark Dortmund break and the relief – complete with a dusting of the hands gesture in celebration – was palpable. All that tension was gone as Kagawa’s body visibly relaxed amid the congratulations. His first club goal since scoring the opener in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final game in charge of Manchester United had come within one half of football in BVB yellow.

The difference between life in Manchester and Dortmund must quite literally feel like night and day. Kagawa had bowed out for United under the Milton Keynes lights as Louis van Gaal’s team were thrashed 4-0 by League One opposition. His Dortmund comeback came in front of 80,000 adoring fans with the Yellow Wall bellowing out his name.

What the club’s official website referred to as Kagawa Fieber surely needs no translation. Sporting director Michael Zorc even admitted that Dortmund decided not to officially present the player because the signing needed no further hype. Reported shirt sales hit 10,000 within six days and the BVB jersey is now claimed to be the most popular in Japan.

On the field, the timing could hardly be more opportune for Klopp. With Jakub Blaszczykowski and Marco Reus both unavailable through injury, the coach could do with Kagawa coming up with a convincing impression of the player who scored 21 goals in 49 Bundesliga appearances in the club’s back-to-back title wins between 2010 and 2012.

Typically, Klopp has been both optimistic and understanding. “He has made a good impression on the training pitch in the past few days and has shown that he still has plenty to offer - although we realise that we cannot expect Shinji to be back to his former best from two years ago right away. I'm sure the fans will create an atmosphere for him that can lift his spirit.”

The adrenaline certainly got him through his ‘second debut’ on Saturday and Klopp must be confident that with Kagawa still just 25 the best years could still be ahead of the player. And why shouldn’t he be? After selling Nuri Sahin to Real Madrid for €25million before bringing him back for pittance, he’s got hold of Kagawa for half the price United paid just two summers ago.

Such is Klopp’s peculiar alchemy and Dortmund’s unique playing style among the world’s best, it’s more than tempting to believe the charismatic German when he offers a blunt assessment of the situation. “He is a very, very good player who will make us even better,” he told Bild. “He can still kick the ball, and he is still the same boy.”

This rekindling of the Klopp-Kagawa love affair – “We cried for 20 minutes in each other’s arms when he left,” the coach told The Guardian last year – might well be a source of bemusement and frustration for United fans who rarely saw the best of him. Indeed, Kagawa became something of a cause celebre at Old Trafford – th