Post by staggerstag on Aug 23, 2017 17:54:44 GMT
We have arrived at the return leg of this Champions League qualifier. Hoffenheim did themselves a turn by potting late on in Germany and will surely come at the Reds from the off. Andrej Kramaric atoned for his dreadful penalty miss last week by netting the only goal of the game against Weder Bremen on Saturday in the opening game of the domestic league. Liverpool won by the same score in their last league game v Palace at Anfield where punters (including those here in the Predictor League) might have been expecting a few more goals than the one but Hoffenheim will take a measure of heart in that narrow 'Pool win, I'm sure.
Liverpool: Mignolet, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Lovren, Moreno, Can, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mané.
Subs: Karius, Milner, Gomez, Sturridge, Klavan, Robertson, Solanke.
Hoffenheim: Baumann, Kadeřábek, Nordtvelt, Vogt, Hübner, Zuber, Geiger, Demirbay, Kramarić, Wagner, Gnabry.
Subs: Kobel, Bičakčić, Rupp, Polanski, Toljan, Uth, Szalai.
Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy)
90 min :
Liverpool 13/20
Hoffenheim 17/4
Draw 10/3
To qualify :
Liverpool 1/16
Hoffenheim 9/1
(BET365)
First Leg Thread
Preamble by Scott Murray :
Liverpool: Mignolet, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Lovren, Moreno, Can, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mané.
Subs: Karius, Milner, Gomez, Sturridge, Klavan, Robertson, Solanke.
Hoffenheim: Baumann, Kadeřábek, Nordtvelt, Vogt, Hübner, Zuber, Geiger, Demirbay, Kramarić, Wagner, Gnabry.
Subs: Kobel, Bičakčić, Rupp, Polanski, Toljan, Uth, Szalai.
Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy)
90 min :
Liverpool 13/20
Hoffenheim 17/4
Draw 10/3
To qualify :
Liverpool 1/16
Hoffenheim 9/1
(BET365)
First Leg Thread
Preamble by Scott Murray :
Präambel -
On balance, Liverpool enjoy playing German opposition in Europe. Sure, there have been some tough times: Reinhard Libuda’s freak lob that won the 1966 Cup Winners Cup for Borussia Dortmund; Bayern Munich legend Gerd Müller ejecting the Reds from the same competition in 1971; Gérard Houllier’s tactical meltdown during the 2002 Champions League quarters in Leverkusen. Hamann for Šmicer?! Oh Ged!
But yeah, on balance, Liverpool enjoy playing German opposition in Europe. Take your pick from the highlights: the repeated bossing of Borussia Mönchengladbach during the Seventies; the European Cup semi-final masterclass at Bayern in 1981; no less than four German sides packed off en route to the 1973 Uefa Cup; a 6-0 Super Cup rout of Kevin Keegan’s Hamburg in 1977; another Super Cup win over Bayern Munich in 2001; the cold dispatch of Leverkusen on their way to the 2005 Champions League; that heady 4-3 Europa League victory over Dortmund last April. They’ve even won a tie against a German club on a coin toss, for goodness sake, against Cologne in the 1965 European Cup quarters.
Liverpool are unbeaten in their last seven matches against German sides. They’ve lost just six in 37 meetings against clubs from Jürgen Klopp’s homeland. They’ve never lost a home game to a Bundesliga team, and that’s a sizable 14-match sample. And they’re unbeaten in nine home matches in Europe, a run which stretches back to October 2014, when Real Madrid turned up at Anfield in the Champions League groups but Liverpool didn’t. Oh, and in 33 European ties when Liverpool have won the first leg away, they’ve never subsequently been knocked out at Anfield.
But history is for preambles only. And Klopp knows Liverpool can’t get ahead of themselves, even after last week’s impressive 2-1 victory in Germany. “It is half-time. That is how I see it. It is half-time and we are in the break.” Meanwhile his opposite number Julian Nagelsmann, having watched his team create plenty of chances last week, knows it won’t take much to alter the dynamic tonight and seriously rattle the hosts: “We are going to try to take the lead and if we do that’s going to change Liverpool. We are good enough not to have to hide here. I am not in awe.”
Liverpool are hoping to make the Champions League groups for the tenth time, Hoffenheim the first. Both teams are desperate to continue their current development in Europe’s elite competition. But one will be disappointed come 9.30pm, maybe sometime after 10 if there’s extra time and penalty kicks. It could be a classic. It could be dramatic. It surely will be tense. It’s on!
On balance, Liverpool enjoy playing German opposition in Europe. Sure, there have been some tough times: Reinhard Libuda’s freak lob that won the 1966 Cup Winners Cup for Borussia Dortmund; Bayern Munich legend Gerd Müller ejecting the Reds from the same competition in 1971; Gérard Houllier’s tactical meltdown during the 2002 Champions League quarters in Leverkusen. Hamann for Šmicer?! Oh Ged!
But yeah, on balance, Liverpool enjoy playing German opposition in Europe. Take your pick from the highlights: the repeated bossing of Borussia Mönchengladbach during the Seventies; the European Cup semi-final masterclass at Bayern in 1981; no less than four German sides packed off en route to the 1973 Uefa Cup; a 6-0 Super Cup rout of Kevin Keegan’s Hamburg in 1977; another Super Cup win over Bayern Munich in 2001; the cold dispatch of Leverkusen on their way to the 2005 Champions League; that heady 4-3 Europa League victory over Dortmund last April. They’ve even won a tie against a German club on a coin toss, for goodness sake, against Cologne in the 1965 European Cup quarters.
Liverpool are unbeaten in their last seven matches against German sides. They’ve lost just six in 37 meetings against clubs from Jürgen Klopp’s homeland. They’ve never lost a home game to a Bundesliga team, and that’s a sizable 14-match sample. And they’re unbeaten in nine home matches in Europe, a run which stretches back to October 2014, when Real Madrid turned up at Anfield in the Champions League groups but Liverpool didn’t. Oh, and in 33 European ties when Liverpool have won the first leg away, they’ve never subsequently been knocked out at Anfield.
But history is for preambles only. And Klopp knows Liverpool can’t get ahead of themselves, even after last week’s impressive 2-1 victory in Germany. “It is half-time. That is how I see it. It is half-time and we are in the break.” Meanwhile his opposite number Julian Nagelsmann, having watched his team create plenty of chances last week, knows it won’t take much to alter the dynamic tonight and seriously rattle the hosts: “We are going to try to take the lead and if we do that’s going to change Liverpool. We are good enough not to have to hide here. I am not in awe.”
Liverpool are hoping to make the Champions League groups for the tenth time, Hoffenheim the first. Both teams are desperate to continue their current development in Europe’s elite competition. But one will be disappointed come 9.30pm, maybe sometime after 10 if there’s extra time and penalty kicks. It could be a classic. It could be dramatic. It surely will be tense. It’s on!
