Jurgen Klopp has implored the Anfield crowd to rally behind Liverpool as they face Hoffenheim on Wednesday.
Klopp discussed his relationship with Philippe Coutinho during his Tuesday press conference, with the Brazilian sidelined through illnes..
In Coutinho’s absence Liverpool won at Hoffenheim last week where a 2-1 success has given them the advantage ahead of Wednesday’s return leg at Anfield.
The Merseyside stadium, famed for its atmosphere on European nights, has not hosted a continental cup game since May 2016 and Klopp wants his players to feed off the noise for a tie he believes is far from over.
“The first game was good enough to get the result, the second game needs to be better,” he admitted.
“Anfield is a main factor, we all know it. It’s a very special place.
“Nothing happens by itself, we have to perform, deliver. We all know the atmosphere can and will help you.
“I would be concerned if people would think it’s a weak side coming from Hoffenheim and we need to be dominant and each bad pass gets a moan.
“It will not happen because I know we have a football crowd and they know about the quality. We are ready to fight.”
The Reds may not even need to score to progress to the group stage, yet defender Joel Matip has warned they will not change their approach to be more cautious due to their slender advantage.
“We go into this match and start like it’s 0-0,” Matip insisted.
“It doesn’t help when we only try to defend and play for a 0-0. We want to play like we always play, we don’t want to change our style because of the first game.”
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