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Jurgen Klopp has urged his Liverpool players to take “the next step” by securing the club's passage to the group stage of the Champions League.

The Reds go into Wednesday night's play-off round second leg against Hoffenheim at Anfield with a 2-1 lead and Klopp is confident the prize at stake will bring the best out of his side.

When Klopp took over at Liverpool nearly two years ago, he set his sights on putting the club back among Europe's elite and he's 90 minutes away from achieving it.

“I do not think in life it makes a lot of sense that if you have a big chance you think about the consequences if you lose it,” Klopp said.

“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.

“I will not think about this when I am at home in my bed and thinking about the game. It is not about what can happen, it is about what we can influence.

“We have to make the next step. The big difference between the game last week and now is that everybody knows how strong the opponent is.

“We have a good result, not a perfect result but a good one, and with the power of Anfield we have to put it to bed.

“The whole of last season we tried to qualify for the Champions League and we got fourth place. If you like this is part of last season and we want to close this case in the most positive way.

“We are all excited about the possibility. We have to deliver.”

(Image: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

It will be Liverpool's first European contest at Anfield since the memorable Europa League semi-final win over Villarreal in May 2016.

After a season without continental competition, Klopp knows how much this game means to the supporters.

The visit of Hoffenheim will be the first time more than 50,000 fans have watched a European game at Anfield since the European Cup clash with Nottingham Forest in 1978.

“I know it is a legend about Anfield on European nights. They are really special and we need these special nights,” Klopp said.

“Everyone who wants this needs to do their job. 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 are able to do.

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“There are different ways to look at this game. You can look on it as a final or in different ways as a fan, as an owner, as a player or as a manager.

“But in the end it is a football game and you have to do the right things and show a perfect attitude.

“You have to show perfect organisation, be hard and be concentrated on everything you have to do.

“It is not allowed to make it bigger from my point of view. I am not going to say to the players: 'Oh, think about what will happen if we don't do it.'

“We had a positive performance in Hoffenheim and that's what we need again. Everybody knows it is pretty special.

“Usually people in England think you get fourth place and you are automatically through but this year it is different. The teams are stronger. We know nothing is guaranteed but everything is possible and that is enough.”

Klopp is adamant that Philippe Coutinho has genuinely been struck down by illness as that summer saga rumbles on.

The Brazilian, who has been denied his dream move to Barcelona, won't make his comeback for the Reds prior to the international break. He has missed nearly three weeks of training after complaining of discomfort in his back.

Klopp says Emre Can has suffered from the same virus as Coutinho in recent days, but the German international is expected to be passed fit to start against Hoffenheim.

Asked how much longer Coutinho would be sidelined, Klopp said: “I don’t know. He is a bit sick so the last few days he was not even at Melwood.

“Emre Can also struggled a little with this, just a cold. He was back training today but Phil was not back because the risk of spreading was too big.”

Liverpool have started the season brightly in the absence of Coutinho and Klopp expects that to continue - despite the unwanted distraction of the player trying to force a move to Spain.

“That is what I expect from us,” Klopp added.

“That is how we have to handle injuries and the other things.

“If you suffer too much then you have to get back on track and that is what we did. I am fine with things so far.

“We improved already from the Watford game to the Hoffenheim game to the Crystal Palace game and now we want to make the next step.”