Joining him at training were Mamadou Sakho, Lazar Markovic and Luis Alberto plus other players not away on international duty.
Mario Balotelli has returned to Liverpool for the start of pre-season training - and claims he wants to win the Ballon d'Or..
The 25-year-old spent last season on loan at AC Milan scoring just once in 20 games for the Italian outfit.
But despite his Anfield future remaining firmly up in the air it is understood he trained with Reds on Saturday at the club's Melwood base.
And upon his return Balotelli has made it clear his famous confidence hasn't been diminished in his year away.
Speaking to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, the 25-year-old showed that two seasons of low-key performances have not diminished his famous confidence.
Asked if there had been too much expectation placed upon him he said: “In my view there wasn’t enough, as I can do so much more than what I said. But it takes time.
“On the scale of 0 to 10, I stopped at five, but I’ll get to 10 eventually. I want to get there. I will win the Ballon d’Or.
Welcome back: Balotelli gets a hug from Dejan Lovren
Chatty man: Balotelli holds court
Training day: Balotelli back at Melwood
“I do realise that I’ve spent two years of my career when I could’ve been getting closer to 10 and instead stayed at five. I know, the Ballon d’Or might seem laughable and I might not have done everything to be the best, but the important thing is I realised it’s not too late.
“I don’t want to reach the end of my career with the regret of not doing everything I can to be the best. Up until two years ago I made do with what I had. I did well, knew I could play, so I was happy. It wasn’t in my mind to improve, as I thought that was enough
“Over the last two years I started working seriously, yet the results did not arrive. Maybe I am paying the price for the previous 23 years. I am relaxed, though, as I am aware that in the last two years things have changed completely.”
Joining him at training were Mamadou Sakho, Lazar Markovic and Luis Alberto plus other players not away on international duty.
Sergi Canos, a transfer target for a number of Championship teams, also reported to Melwood.
Coach Andreas Kornmayer led Saturday's session, which focused primarily on testing.
PLUS: Two Turkish clubs including Besiktas are interested in signing Anfield defender Martin Skrtel over the summer.
Liverpool will reportedly reject any approach for Philippe Coutinho this summer.
Jurgen Klopp sees the Brazilian as a key part of his bid to return the Reds to the Champions League, and the Daily Express report Paris Saint-Germain are one of three clubs lining up a move for the midfielder.
However, Liverpool will apparently snub any bid for the £45million-rated playmaker.
Coutinho arrived on Merseyside for £8.5million from Inter Milan in January 2013 and penned a new five-year deal in February last year.
Skrtel wanted in Turkey
In demand: Skrtel is wanted in Turkey
Martin Skrtel is wanted by at least two Turkish clubs this summer, including Besiktas.
The Slovakian has been at Liverpool since 2008, but found himself out of favour under Jurgen Klopp this season, and has been widely expected to leave the club,report the Liverpool Echo.
Skrtel made 27 appearances in all competitions this term, but started just four games in 2016.
He was an unused substitute in both the League Cup and Europa League finals, featuring only when Klopp rotated his side in Premier League games during the final weeks of the campaign.
The arrival of Joel Matip , who will join the club on a free transfer, means opportunities are likely to be similarly limited next season – although the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Mamadou Sakho complicates matters somewhat at present.
Why Reds could miss out on Vardy
Missing out: Liverpool are set to lose their chase to sign Vardy
Liverpool could miss out to Arsenal for Leicester striker Jamie Vardy after the Reds were unable to trigger the England star's release clause.
The Gunners are in talks to sign the Premier League champions' leading scorer after they submitted a £20million bid which activated a release clause in his current Foxes deal, write Mirror Football's John Cross and Joe Mewis.
Jurgen Klopp's side are also interested in signing the 29-year-old and have offered him a bumper £140,000-a-week, but the release clause is only available to Champions League clubs.
That puts the Premier League runners-up in pole position to land Vardy, who is currently being paid £60,000 a week.
Arsene Wenger was at England's friendly with Portugal on Thursday evening and saw Vardy start up front for the Three Lions.
Borussia Dortmund famously beat us to Henrikh Mkhitaryan back in 2013, but this summer, they’ve already signed three players linked with Liverpool in an odd twist since Jurgen Klopp left them for us.
They won the race for French wonderkid Ousmane Dembele, they snapped up Lorient left-back Raphael Guerreiro amidst our reported interest – and now Barcelona confirm that the Germans have now bought Marc Bartra as well.
Liverpool had been linked with the Spain international to bolster the centre of our defence, but news went a little quiet when it emerged Mamadou Sakho had avoided a lengthy ban and would be able to compete for us at the beginning of next season – reducing our need for a new player in that position.
Dortmund have sold Mats Hummels to Bayern Munich, and it appears Bartra is his direct replacement.
Jurgen Klopp left Dortmund last summer, but we’ve already played his former club twice and are now after the same players in the transfer market. So far, Dortmund have pipped us to the post, although in truth, the only one we’re disappointed about is Dembele – who is one of the most highly talented youngsters in Europe.
It was perhaps inevitable that Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool would produce their most Borussia Dortmund-like performance at the home of his former club.
In last week's Europa League quarterfinal first leg at the Westfalenstadion, Klopp watched his Liverpool players press and harry like the Dortmund team he steered to the highest echelon of the European game.
If historical precedents are to be believed, the 1-1 final score gives Liverpool a 74 percent chance of progressing, and the nature of their display revealed the extent to which Klopp's methods have taken hold.
"I'm pretty sure a lot of people thought we would lose 2-0, 3-0 or 4-0," said Klopp, whose side tackle Dortmund at Anfield in Thursday's return leg.
"But at some moments we had Dortmund, and around our goal we were brilliant."
The sight of Klopp on the touchline – squawking at his players, pumping his fist in celebration of Divock Origi's first-half goal – will have been immediately familiar to Dortmund's fans, who granted him a touching send-off at the final whistle.
So too the tactics employed by his team, whose aggressive, front-foot approach prevented the home side from settling into any kind of rhythm and whose counter-attacks kept the Dortmund rearguard on constant alert.
While Dortmund have become more of a possession-based team under Klopp's successor, Thomas Tuchel – the legacy of the new status his seven-year tenure left them with – Liverpool are exhibiting the same underdog mentality upon which he built his success in the Ruhr valley.
Speaking earlier this season, former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson said the team's best performances were "reminiscent of Borussia Dortmund at their best under Jurgen Klopp".
Klopp readily bestowed trust upon the players he inherited at Dortmund, with seven of the 18 players he called up for his first game, a 3-2 win at Bayer Leverkusen in August 2008, featuring in the squad that faced Bayern Munich in the Champions League final five years later.
'HIGH-INTENSITY GAMES'
He seems similarly determined to extract every ounce of quality from the Liverpool players at his disposal.
The occasionally maligned centre-back pairing of Mamadou Sakho and Dejan Lovren performed with sturdy resolve in the first leg, while Origi is flourishing after a difficult start to his time at the club.
"He always believed in me and he believes in the group also," said the 20-year-old Belgian striker, who followed up his goal at Dortmund with a brace in Sunday's 4-1 defeat of Stoke City.
"The fact that I'm on the pitch gives me confidence and I just try to play my game and enjoy it."
Hard-working players like Adam Lallana, Emre Can and James Milner have also earned Klopp's trust and are striving to show that they can become to him what hardy perennials like Mats Hummels, Marcel Schmelzer and Jakub Blaszczykowski were at Dortmund.
Milner, captain in the absence of the injured Jordan Henderson, is relishing the challenge of playing teams like Dortmund and Tottenham Hotspur, held 1-1 at Anfield recently, who play with a similar high-tempo approach.
"It's nice to keep getting the games," Milner said of Liverpool's busy schedule. "They have been high-intensity games as well -– Dortmund and Spurs play at a high tempo.
"That's good for us as it keeps us at that intensity we want to play at. We know if we play at that intensity, that's when we have our best matches."
If Dortmund are to prove themselves worthy favourites for the trophy, Tuchel must find a way to withstand the red tide when the teams resume hostilities on Thursday.
Dortmund's supporters will know exactly what is coming their way.
Borussia Dortmund should attack Liverpool's "weak link" centre-halves to silence Anfield on Thursday, according to Steffen Freund.
Liverpool's 1-1 draw in Dortmund means the visitors will need to score at least once to deny former boss Jurgen Klopp a place in the last four of the Europa League.
And former Tottenham midfielder Freund, a two-time Bundesliga winner with Dortmund, told Sky Sports News HQ a positive opening is the key to qualification.
"A good start in the game would be very good," he said. "Dortmund should attack very early in the first ten minutes. They should try to force Liverpool to make mistakes.
"The central defenders of the Reds are the weakest links - Dejan Lovren and Mamadou Sakho. If they are under pressure, they make mistakes."
An early goal might also dampen an Anfield atmosphere expected to rival that produced by Dortmund's famous 'Yellow Wall' at their Signal Iduna Park home.
Dortmund have been warned to expect a lively Anfield atmosphere on Thursday
"Just don't be intimidated," is Freund's advice for his old club. "It's the last chance for Liverpool to make it in the Champions League next year. In the Premier League they won't qualify.
"It's a very special stadium. It's so tight, loud and emotional. But Dortmund should have got used to that kind of atmosphere from their own stadium. They have probably the best stadium in Europe."
After the pre-match rallying cry about going all out for Europa League glory, this was a horribly tame performance from Liverpool at the WWK Arena.
Rather than send out a statement of intent to their continental rivals, the Reds fought out a dismal stalemate with a team locked in a relegation battle in the Bundesliga. That May final in Basel feels a long way off.
Augsburg deserved a draw which they celebrated like it was the mother of all victories.
Liverpool were left to rue a lifeless first-half display coupled with the golden chances they spurned when they belatedly took control after the interval.
But for one fine save from Simon Mignolet and intervention of the woodwork late on Klopp would have endured an embarrassing defeat back on German soil.
Instead the Reds just about escaped with their dignity intact. They should still march into the last 16 as it's inconceivable they will perform this badly in next Thursday's second leg at Anfield.
But if Klopp's plan was to rest key names ahead of the Capital One Cup final they now surely lie in tatters.
That Wembley showdown with Manchester City comes less than 72 hours after the second leg. With the European tie still very much in the balance, he will have little option but to field all his big guns.
This was a backwards step for Liverpool after the glorious high of last weekend's six-goal mauling of Aston Villa.
The step up in class was only marginal with Augsburg sitting 14 in the Bundesliga table and without a quartet of key players due to injury.
Klopp had warned that the Bavarian outfit would be fired up for the “biggest game in their history” as they faced English opposition for the first time.
But rather than carry on where they left off at Villa Park, Liverpool's standards slipped across the board.
This was hardly an intimidating cauldron with You'll Never Walk Alone played on the PA system before kick-off. There was even polite applause from the home fans for Klopp.
But on the field Augsburg proved much less welcoming as they worked tirelessly to shut down space and thwart the Reds.
Klopp marked the 31 game of his Liverpool reign by naming an unchanged team for the first time.
After so much chopping and changing as a result of a crippling injury crisis and a hectic schedule this was a belated opportunity to retain some consistency in selection in the wake of the demolition job on Villa.
However, during an instantly forgettable opening 45 minutes the Reds didn't come close to hitting those heights.
There was no swagger, no spark, no intensity and no real tempo to their work.
Liverpool started sloppily and gifted Augsburg the initiative.
Inside three minutes Mamadou Sakho's poor defensive header dropped straight to Raul Bobadilla, whose strike bounced over the bar.
Augsburg were given plenty of encouragement by the Reds' defensive uncertainty. And there was little control in midfield either with possession carelessly and repeatedly tossed away.
Liverpool had their moments going forward. Robert Firmino pounced on Markus Feulner's error but the finish was tame.
Emre Can of Liverpool reacts during the UEFA Europa League match
Emre Can then rose to meet James Milner's corner and Daniel Sturridge nodded goalwards but it was straight at the keeper.
Sturridge remained on the periphery, largely starved of service and frequently out-muscled by a combative backline.
When Philippe Coutinho's cute pass did pick the striker out, Marwin Hitz raced off his line to save.
Liverpool's hopes were bolstered considerably midway through the first half when Augsburg's 11-goal top scorer Bobadilla went off clutching his hamstring. The dangerous Paraguay international looks certain to miss the second leg.
Liverpool's patient build up succeeded in quietening down the home fans but achieved precious little else as they rarely threatened. It was all too slow, too predictable.
Klopp was regularly off his seat, berating his players and demanding greater urgency.
When the Reds did break away at pace, Sturridge ignored decent options either side of him and saw his ambitious 25-yarder deflected behind.
Henderson then latched on to Milner's corner but his curler was easy for Hitz.
Just before the break Liverpool were indebted to Mignolet for keeping them on level terms.
They were carved apart far too easily as a pass from substitute Caiuby sent Alexander Esswein racing clear. Mignolet was alert to the danger and saved brilliantly.
Whatever was said at half-time did the trick as in the second half Liverpool raised the bar. They moved the ball quicker and with greater purpose as Augsburg were finally pinned back.
Coutinho stabbed wide from Moreno's low cross after the Brazilian had classily dummied Firmino's pass.
Sturridge should have celebrated his first European outing of the campaign by breaking the deadlock but side-footed wide after a slick one-two between Milner and Firmino.
Divock Origi of Liverpool dives for the ball
The chances kept on coming. Moreno's free-kick sparked panic with Kolo Toure inches away from converting. Augsburg captain Paul Verhaegh nearly put through his own net but Hitz grabbed it on the line.
Klopp sought fresh legs for the final quarter with Sturridge making way for Divock Origi.
Moreno's fierce low 25-yarder was unconvincingly scooped behind by Hitz before Origi turned over Milner's cross under pressure.
Liverpool's grip on proceedings loosened and they could easily have found themselves facing a first-leg deficit.
Brazilian Caiuby was left holding his head in his hands after somehow failing to turn home Kostas Stafylidiss effort from close range.
Fellow substitute Ji Dong-Won had the same sinking feeling when he struck the outside of the post with Mignolet beaten.
There was no happy return for Klopp. In the end he will have been relieved that Liverpool simply escaped unscathed.
Liverpool centre-half Mamadou Sakho gives a young fan his signed match-day shirt after 2-1 win at Crystal Palace.
It is amazing what a late winner can do to lift the spirits.
Liverpool appeared to be heading for a fourth defeat in five games against bogey side Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon.
Joe Ledley broke the deadlock early in the second half to put Palace 1-0 up before Liverpool vice-captain James Milner received a red card for a second bookable offence.
However, Brazil international Roberto Firmino capitalised on Alex McCarthy’s mistake to halve the deficit before Christian Benteke won an added-time penalty for the hosts.
The Belgium international assumed responsibility from the penalty spot and duly dispatched his penalty with ease.
And Sakho selected one lucky, young Liverpool supporter to receive his signed match-day shirt following their 2-1 win at Premier League strugglers Palace.
Liverpool are in seventh place in the Premier League table and six points behind fourth-placed Manchester City in the race to secure a place in next season’s Champions League.
Get 20/1 enhanced odds on Real Madrid, Wolfsburg and PSG to win in the Champions League this week. Click here to sign up now. T&Cs apply.
