Liverpool travel to Germany on Tuesday Night to face Hoffenheim in the first leg of their Champions League Play-off. Kick off at the
Wirsol Rhein-Neckar-Arena is at 19:45 (7:45pm) GMT.
Jurgen Klopp will have to navigate his Red men through a tricky Champions League qualifier if they are to take their place in the Group Stage draw for the first time since 2014/15 after they finished fourth in the English Premier League last season. Opponents Hoffenheim will make their very first appearance in the competition after they too finished fourth in the German Bundesliga. It is remarkable considering they only earned promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history in 2008.
Julian Nagelsmann is one of world football’s most promising young managers. He became the youngest manager in Bundesliga history at the age of 28 when he took on the top job in February 2016 with Die Kraichgauer sitting 17
th in the table. He has captivated fans with his work ethic both on and off the pitch and has coached both the under-17 and under-19 sides prior to his first senior job. After steering them clear of relegation that season, he followed that up with fourth-place in his first full season in charge and all the glory that goes along with it. His success and recognition earned him the Manager of the Season Award in Germany and will no doubt have planned for further success when Klopp comes to town on Tuesday.
Roberto Firmino spent four fruitful years with Hoffenheim between 2011 and 2015 scoring 49 goals in 153 appearances in all competitions for them before making the move to Merseyside. He has netted 24 times in his 91 appearances for Liverpool so far and will return to his former club for the very first time on Tuesday evening. He requested to switch his squad number to the vacant number 9 jersey ahead of the 2017/18 season and fans can surely expect more goals from their brilliant Brazilian. They will be without another star ‘samba’ however. Phillipe Coutinho has once again been omitted from their matchday squad amidst speculation that he is about to replace his fellow countryman, Neymar, at Barcelona after the latter recently completed his world-record transfer to Paris St Germain.
Tuesday’s encounter will be the first-ever meeting between the two clubs. Hoffenheim get their season underway on Saturday August 19
th when they play host to Werder Bremen while Liverpool kicked off their campaign with a thrilling 3-3 draw away to Watford this past weekend. Havard Nordveit and Andrei Kramaric have some Premier League experience under their belts having turned out for West Ham United and Leicester City respectively in the past couple of seasons and will be key to their sides chances against Liverpool. After having lost Niklas Sule and Seb Rudy to Bavarian giants Bayern Munich in the summer, they have also brought in former Arsenal winger Serge Gnabry on loan as they look to take their first European experience one step-further at the expense of one of the continents greatest ever teams.