Liverpool begin CL playoffs campaign

paris — Jurgen Klopp takes his Liverpool side to his native Germany this week to face Hoffenheim as they target a return to the group stage of the Champions League.

It is three years since the Anfield outfit, five times European champions, last graced the group stage of the continent’s elite club competition. A fourth-place finish in the Premier League last season exposed them to a complicated draw in the playoffs and a pairing with the Bundesliga outfit means a trip to the Rhein Neckar Arena in the first leg on Tuesday.

Klopp has been to his home country with Liverpool before, overseeing victories against Augsburg and old club Borussia Dortmund en route to the Europa League final two seasons ago. They were also in Germany during pre-season, beating both Hertha Berlin and Bayern Munich.

The Reds, who began their Premier League campaign with a 3-3 draw at Watford on Saturday, are without Adam Lallana and Nathaniel Clyne at the moment but Roberto Firmino is fit. The Brazilian is set to face the club for whom he starred for four years before being sold to Liverpool in 2015.

Hoffenheim, from a village of just over 3,000 souls in southwestern Germany, finished fourth in the Bundesliga last season to qualify for Europe for the first time. The match against Liverpool comes four days before they face Werder Bremen in the first match of their 10th Bundesliga campaign.

“We’ll do everything in our power to get through. Liverpool are a phenomenal side, but I already have an idea how we can snatch a result,” their coach Julian Nagelsmann, just 30, said after the draw.

Hoffenheim have been weakened since last season, losing German international duo Sebastian Rudy and Niklas Suele to Bayern Munich.—