Liverpool ready to finish the job against Hoffenheim and prove they belong among Europe's elite

This is the side's opportunity to return to European football’s top table - and they know full well the importance of taking it

Liverpool can be confident that a defensively competent display will ensure a place in the group stage (Getty)

It is easy to forget just how good a result Liverpool’s win in Hoffenheim last week was. Julian Nagelsmann’s men were unbeaten at home in the Bundesliga last season. Indeed, they were the last side in Europe’s major five leagues to lose a game, suffering their first defeat of the campaign in January.

Any slight advantage taken back from the Rhein-Neckar region, let alone a win, would always be significant. Had it come as a second-leg victory and decided the tie, it would have been remembered as among the best of Jurgen Klopp’s tenure. Instead, the responsibility is on Liverpool to take their slender, precious first-leg advantage and protect it.

Simon Mignolet admitted last week that he and his team-mates could “only play one way and that is forward”. Yet there were signs in the second half of last week’s victory that Liverpool can defend intelligently when required.

There were few issues with defending set-pieces despite their problems at Watford and their play was reserved but penetrative when it needed to be. Dejan Lovren’s performance was a concern, but Mignolet himself was on hand to cover for all but one defensive lapse. When Hoffenheim’s late goal came, it could be attributed to a rare error from Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was otherwise excellent.

With Hoffenheim needing to win and score at least two to progress, Liverpool can be confident that a defensively competent display will ensure a place in the group stage. It is only if they cannot produce one that the consequences are barely worth considering.

Only two English clubs have been eliminated at this stage of the competition before in the Champions League era. Newcastle United lost out on penalties to Partizan Belgrade in 2003, then Everton were beaten by Villarreal in controversial circumstances two years later. Neither club has returned to this level since.

Liverpool would like to think their standing and history in the competition means the same fate could not befall them, but the reality is that even if all goes well on Wednesday night, this would still only be their second group stage appearance in the last eight years. As the gaps in quality between the Premier League’s top six tighten, nothing is guaranteed. Liverpool could, quite easily, have a season on par or better than their last points-wise and yet finish outside the top four.

This is their opportunity to return to European football’s top table and they know the importance of taking it. Still, understandably, Klopp is encouraging his players to focus on the task at hand rather the prospect of failure. “The whole of last season we tried to qualify for the Champions League and we got 4th, so if you like this is part of last season and we want to close this case in the most positive way,” he said on Tuesday.

Klopp has urged his players to focus on the task at end (Bongarts)

“I do not think in life it makes a lot of sense that if you have big chance you think about the consequences if you lose it. In finals you go for it and try your best. Is it good to be in a final? Yes. Is it good to lose it? No. But the only possibility to lose it is to go to it.”

With the Philippe Coutinho saga now seemingly over, there should be no distractions. With a first-leg advantage and the return at Anfield, there should be no excuses. “Everyone who wants this needs to do their job tomorrow. I can guarantee the boys will fight for everything. It does not mean we will do it, but it means we will fight for it. I hope we will show the world what we were are able to do.”