HT Notes: Hoffenheim 0-1 Liverpool

Sports - Football - Champions League - Qualifier

PRE-MATCH NOTES

The venue: the 30,000-capacity Rhein-Neckar Arena. Sold out within 17 minutes for this tie.

Hoffenheim won 11 and drew six of their 17 games there last season.

Their dangerman is former Leicester striker Andrej Kramaric, who scored 18 goals for them last season. Sandro Wagner, who starts alongside him in attack, bagged 12.

One person who certainly knows all about Hoffenheim is Roberto Firmino.

The Liverpool forward spent four years at the German club, scoring 49 goals in 153 appearances, before moving to the Reds in 2015.

Liverpool will look to Firminio to provide creativity in the absence of Coutinho.

ZDF: 1st European Cup tie for Hoffenheim, 333rd for Liverpool. #YNWA 

BBC: While this is Hoffenheim's very first game in Europe it is Liverpool's 364th and 182nd in the Champions League/European Cup. Hm... Who's counting...

Hoffenheim were the only side Klopp's Borussia Dortmund failed to beat in the league in his first title winning season of 2010-11!

ZDF point finger at "Wackelkandidat" Simon Mignolet and same old defensive problems for draw at Watford. And transfer fiasco.

Klopp: "We need more players than money!" Clear dig at Coutinho! And owners!

MATCH NOTES - THE MAIN BITS:

3' SALAH GOAL - OFFSIDE FLAG WAS UP!!! Pfff...

10' PENALTY given by the assistant not the referee! Dejan Lovren v Serge Gnabry, eventhough it looked offside, tumbled down & got the penalty! Clumsy but OH SO SOFT!

11' Nr 27 Andrej Kramaric takes, SIMON MIGNOLET SAVES!!! Too easy to the keeper's left, but curling towards him! #TFFT

15' Mohamed Salah breaks on his own, shoots wide! Skipper Kevin Vogt was catching up trying to make up for his error, but it was one-to-one with keeper Baumann... #waste

26' Kaderabek sends a shot high from the right edge of the box. Closest either side has come for a while...

28' Hoffenheim free kick, Gnabry takes from about 25 yards out, into the box, cleared.

34' First European booking goes to Hoffenheim's number 4 Ermin Bicakcic after bringing down Salah about six yards outside the box.

35' WHAT A FREE KICK!!! FIRST EUROPEAN GAME, FIRST EUROPEAN GOAL FOR RED YOUNGSTER TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD! Right foot, over the wall, into the right corner of the net! Nice one! #YEAH #TAA 👊⚽👊 #BOOM #DANKE

40' That goal has calmed some nerves! More possession for the Reds now & settled play, less frantic & all over the place!

43' GNABRYYY denied by Simon Mignolet & Sandro Wagner puts the rebound just wide! The German commentator got loud there!

1 minute added on. Hoffenheim with the ball. Pressing. Pushing. But lose out the ball. Liverpool counter, Mané v Vogt, the latter does well to kick the ball out for a corner.

LOVREN HEADS THE CORNER WIDE!!!

That was the last action before the break. HT Hoffenheim 0-1 Liverpool. AND BREATH!!!

HT Stats:
Possession: 61%-39%
Shots: 6-6
On target: 2-3
Corners: 0-2
Fouls: 6-8
Yellow cards: 1-0

The home side did well & dominated most of the game, only behind thanks to a TAA cracker!

Klopp will be happier with the away goal, but still worried with the shaky defence! At least Mignolet has kept strong! #sofarsogood #fingerscrossed

1899 Hoffenheim XI: 1 Baumann, 22 Vogt, 4 Bicakcic (booked 34'), 21 Hübner, 3 Kaderabek, 10 Demirbay, 7 Rupp, 17 Zuber, 29 Gnabry, 14 Wagner, 27 Kramaric. 3-4-3
Substitutes: 6 Nordtveit, 15 Toljan, 18 Amiri,  19 Uth, 28 Szalai, 32 Geiger, 36 Kobel.
Manager: Julian Nagelsmann = youngest Bundesliga manager with 30!

Liverpool XI: 22 Mignolet, 66 Alexander-Arnold, 6 Lovren, 32 Matip, 18 Moreno, 14 Henderson, 23 Can, 5 Wijnaldum, 11 Salah, 19 Mané, 9 Firmino. 4-3-3
Substitutes: 1 Karius, 7 Milner, 12 Gomez, 16 Grujic, 17 Klavan, 27 Origi, 29 Solanke.
Manager: Jürgen Klopp

Referee: Björn Kuipers

Click here for my previous LFC match report.

Notes, stats and facts taken from Twitter, BBC & ZDF coverage.