Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp claimed Sevilla resorted to “embarrassing” tactics to knock the Bundesliga leaders out of the Europa League on Wednesday.

The game ended 2-2, which meant Sevilla went through as Group J runners-up while Dortmund, who needed a win, were eliminated. Klopp was livid at the way the Spanish side had wasted time as the match wore on.

“There is a bitter after-taste to this defeat,” he said.

“If I read that we lack experience in Europe, then I won’t be able to accept that. If experience in Europe means wasting time, then I don’t want my team to learn something like that.

“It was an embarrassing display from Sevilla. For such a great team to resort to such tactics is an embarrassment.”

Even the ball boys contributed to the time wasting by first refusing to give the ball back to Dortmund players and then sending extra balls onto the field to cause further delays.

The referee did not take account of these additional stoppages and he was confronted by an angry Klopp, who raced from his bench to remonstrate with him, at the end of the match. The Dortmund players were also confused by the lack of additional time.

“There was so much time-wasting that the referee could easily have played another half,” said defender Neven Subotic.

“It took eight minutes for them to restart play after every foul. Of course, we are hugely disappointed.”