Hoffenheim 1-2 Liverpool: 5 talking points

Hosts sucker Pool with consolation

Hoffenheim fans serenade their players

As indicated, Liverpool made life difficult for themselves early on thanks to a suspect defence.

Up against some fairly generic moves forward, Liverpool looked shaky and unsure of themselves - a better and more imaginative team would have punished the Reds more for being so indecisive early on.

A handful of snapshots that either flew wide or were directed straight at Mignolet between the posts saw Hoffenheim create little for large periods of the game until an 87th-minute consolation strike from Mark Uth, after latching onto a great diagonal ball, saw them pull one back.

Lethargic play littered the home team's movements in the key areas around and inside the 18-yard box and so it was little surprise that their best moment of the night came via a clever pass to wrong-foot the entire Pool defence, expertly beating the offside trap, too.

Liverpool are still in the driving seat, but Hoffenheim will certainly be doing all they can to catch up for the return leg. The final 10 minutes proved that they can do damage.