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Hoffenheim boss Julian Nagelsmann had a close-up of one of Liverpool's recent near misses at Anfield and hopes to mastermind another by preventing them from reaching the Champions League group stage.

Three years ago Nagelsmann was in the second row when Brendan Rodgers' Reds defeated Newcastle 2-1 on the final day of a season where they had accrued 84 points and scored 101 goals.

However, they fell short in their ultimate goal as Manchester City's 2-0 success over West Ham on the same day ensured Liverpool missed out on their first Premier League title by two points.

On Wednesday Nagelsmann will be even nearer the pitch and have a keener interest in the result as his team aim to overturn a 2-1 first-leg defeat to make the Champions League group stage for the first time.

"There's a lot of history that comes with this place and some very big matches have been played here," he noted at Anfield.

"I hope that tomorrow we can also play a big match.

"My overall impression was very good, I was a bit surprised to see the difference in terms of how supporters seemed to behave here compared to Germany.

"There wasn't that extreme chanting from one end of the ground like we're used to, it was more all four stands joining and clapping together. In Germany the hardcore supporters at one end are chanting endlessly.

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"This was my first experience of the Premier League, I found it to be a very intensive match, obviously interesting in terms of tactics, but it was a nice experience.

"I managed to sit in row two, very close to the pitch, but I'm very much looking forward to sitting in the front row.

"I don't think if we win it will be a shock. There will be a surprise because I don't think everyone is betting on us, but we have belief that we can do it.

"We are good enough not to have to hide here. We know this is a great club with a great history, but my feeling is excitement."

Nagelsmann, 30, is no stranger to heartache himself having revealed one of his earliest memories of this competition was witnessing Manchester United's improbable comeback in the 1999 Champions League final.

"My first memory of a European match was a match where I had to endure some very harsh comments from my dad," he admitted.

"This was Bayern (Munich) against Manchester United where Bayern lost quite unluckily in the very last minute. I was a Bayern supporter at the time, my dad was a Borussia Monchengladbach supporter so he was winding me up about it quite a bit!"