Liverpool beat Hoffenheim in Champions League playoff first-leg but late strike threatens their progression

If Liverpool have a problem with set-pieces, nobody appears to have told Trent Alexander-Arnold. Players with more seniority at Anfield stood over the first-half free-kick with him, but it was the 18-year-old academy product who swept the dead ball into Hoffenheim’s goal, silenced the Rhein-Necker-Arena’s rowdy Südkurve and handed his boyhood club an early advantage in this Champions League play-off.

It was not a perfect night for the youngster or Liverpool, but Jürgen Klopp’s side will start next week’s second leg confident of progression. A deflected second away goal from James Milner looked to have given the visitors a healthy advantage to take back to Merseyside, but a late misstep by Alexander-Arnold allowed Mark Uth to reduce Hoffenheim’s deficit.

The Bundesliga outfit will themselves be disappointed that they will not take a draw back to Anfield, having seen Andrej Kramaric denied from the penalty spot early on by a Simon Mignolet save that could yet prove to be just as important as the two away goals.

This was never going to be easy for Liverpool. The quiet, hilly Kraichgau region of south-western Germany does not appear to be the most intimidating of trips on first glance, but everything about its flagship football club suggested they would cause Liverpool problems. Hoffenheim were unbeaten here last season on their way to a fourth-place finish in the Bundesliga, only champions Bayern Munich had a better defensive record and, ominously, no team in Germany’s top-flight scored more from set-pieces.

The club’s rise from relegation candidates two seasons ago to the brink of Champions League football can be attributed to their 30-year-old Julian Nagelsmann, not a player but the head coach regularly compared with Klopp and younger than two members of Liverpool’s travelling squad. If there was to be an upset, he would need every last ounce of his prodigious talent to pull it off.

It was an open game from the first whistle, with both sides boasting players strong on the counter. There was an early moment of danger for the hosts when Mignolet failed to win possession after rushing out to the touchline. Hoffenheim, however, could not capitalise and Mignolet would more than atone for his error just minutes later.

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Dejan Lovren’s foul that brought the penalty was a clumsy one but still referee Bjorn Kuipers took a moment to gather his thoughts before correctly awarding it. The effort from Kramaric, once of Leicester City, was poor and Mignolet dived low to his left to beat it away conclusively with two hands.

The formidable noise around the Rhein-Neckar-Arena quietened suddenly, barring one small corner of red. Those travelling supporters almost had more to shout about shortly after when Mohamed Salah caught the hosts’ skipper Kevin Vogt out and broke through a high Hoffenheim line to go through on goal. Vogt, like Mignolet, atoned and caught up with the Egyptian, forcing him to alter his run just enough so that the resulting effort glanced wide.

Despite that opening, Liverpool struggled to find more and Hoffenheim grew comfortable, enjoying the lion’s share of possession and with it, momentum. One clean swipe from the boot of a teenager from West Derby would change all that. Three more senior set-piece taker stood over the ball with Alexander-Arnold, but his inch-perfect effort glided past Oliver Baumann and into the corner of the net.

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Liverpool looked for another, but just before the break came a reminder that for the most part, it had been Hoffenheim’s half. Joel Matip was beaten to a high ball, allowing former Arsenal prospect Serge Gnabry to test Mignolet. The Belgian parried and Sandro Wagner could only fire the rebound wide.

Liverpool should have been two-up shortly after re-emerging for the second half. Mane lost his marker out on the left flank, darted inside and cut towards the byline before sliding a low cross back to the feet of Firmino. The Brazilian, who scored 49 in 153 appearances for Hoffenheim before moving to Anfield two years ago, fired straight at Baumann and the rebound cannoned off a defender then flew wide.

Having survived that scare, Hoffenheim regained their rhythm. Gnabry saw a goal rightly ruled out for offside and Alberto Moreno should have been punished by Kramaric after a lapse in concentration. It was not the Spaniard’s first of the night. Hoffenheim then tested Klopp's side with a succession of corners, each of them defended well but not decisively.

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Liverpool sought to add to their advantage and the second eventually came through Milner, though it only beat Baumann with a big helping hand from Harvard Nordtveit. The Hoffenheim defender, signed this summer after an unremarkable season at West Ham United, deflected Milner’s looping cross over the head of his helpless goalkeeper and into the net.

Hoffenheim’s early energy had now been zapped, but it and their hopes of reaching the group stages were restored by Uth’s late and easily preventable strike. Alexander-Arnold believed him to be offside and plaintively waved a hand as the Hoffenheim substitute drifted in behind, collected the ball unchallenged and converted past a furious Mignolet.

The goal dampened Liverpool’s evening and reminded them of the threat Hoffenheim will bring to Merseyside, but Klopp could still look at the scoreboard and smile. His side had come through a significant test and emerged in the ascendancy.

Hoffenheim (3-4-1-2): Baumann; Bicakcic (Nordtveit 52), Vogt, Hubner; Kaderabek, Rupp (Amiri 53), Demiraby, Zuber; Kramaric, Gnabry (Uth 71); Wagner.

Substitutes not used: Kobel, Toljan, Szalai, Geiger.

Liverpool (4-3-3): Mignolet; Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Matip, Moreno; Henderson (Milner 63), Can, Wijnaldum; Mane (Grujic 89), Firmino (Solanke 84), Salah.

Substitutes not used: Karius, Gomez, Klavan, Origi.

Referee: Bjorn Kuipers