Champions League and Europa League play-off draws: Liverpool v Hoffenheim

Last updated on .From the section Footballcomments498

Adam Lallana, Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho
Liverpool did not play in Europe last season, after losing to Sevilla in the 2016 Europa League final

Liverpool will face German side Hoffenheim for a place in the Champions League group stage.

Jurgen Klopp's side will be away for the first leg on either 15 or 16 August, with the return leg to be played at Anfield on 22 or 23 August.

Scottish champions Celtic meet Kazakh counterparts Astana in their play-off tie, with the home leg first.

Everton host Croatia's Hajduk Split in the Europa League play-off first leg on 17 August with the return on 24 August.

The Toffees qualified by securing a 2-0 aggregate win over MFK Ruzomberok on Thursday.

The 10 winners from the Champions League play-off stage will join the 22 teams who have already qualified for the group stage.

Defeated teams at the play-off round enter the Europa League group stage.

Liverpool qualified for the Champions League play-off stage by finishing fourth in last year's Premier League, with Hoffenheim taking the same position in the Bundesliga.

Premier League champions Chelsea, runners-up Tottenham and third-placed Manchester City qualified directly for the group stage, along with Manchester United, who won last year's Europa League.

The 22 winners of the Europa League play-off round ties will qualify for the group stages.

Champions League draw

Champions route

Qarabag (Azerbaijan) v Copenhagen (Denmark)

Apoel Nicosia (Cyprus) v Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)

Olympiakos (Greece) v HNK Rijeka (Croatia)

Celtic (Scotland) v Astana (Kazakhstan)

Hapoel Beer Sheva (Israel) v Maribor (Slovenia)

League route

Istanbul Basaksehir (Turkey) v Sevilla (Spain)

Young Boys (Switzerland) v CSKA Moscow (Russia)

Napoli (Italy) v Nice (France)

Hoffenheim (Germany) v Liverpool (England)

Sporting Lisbon (Portugal) v Steaua Bucharest (Romania)

Europa League draw

Shkendija (Macedonia) v AC Milan (Italy)

Panathinaikos (Greece) v Athletic Bilbao (Spain)

Osijek (Croatia) v Austria Wien (Austria)

Apollon Limassol (Cyprus) v Midtjylland (Denmark)

Crvena Zvezda (Serbia) v Krasnodar (Russia)

FH (Iceland) v Braga (Portugal)

Club Brugge (Belgium) v AEK Athens (Greece)

Everton (England) v Hajduk Split (Croatia)

Viitorul (Romania) v Salzburg (Austria)

Vardar (Macedonia) v Fenerbahce (Turkey)

Maritimo (Portugal) v Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)

Partizan (Serbia) v Videoton (Hungary)

Ajax (Netherlands) v Rosenborg (Norway)

Altach (Austria) v Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)

Legia Warsaw (Poland) v Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova)

Utrecht (Netherlands) v Zenit St Petersburg (Russia)

BATE Borisov (Bulgaria) v Olexandriya (Ukraine)

Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic) v Larnaca (Cyprus)

PAOK (Greece) v Ostersund (Sweden)

Domzale (Slovenia) v Marseille (France)

Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) v Skenderbeu (Albania)

Ludogorets (Bulgaria) v Suduva (Lithuania)

Comments

Join the conversation

These comments are now closed.

498 comments

  • Comment posted by Dan, at 11:25 4 Aug 2017

    Happy enough with that. Klopp knows them well, as does Firmino. If we can't beat them over 2 legs, we don't deserve to be in it anyway.

  • Comment posted by Brian T Mullan, at 11:32 4 Aug 2017

    tough draw - just means Liverpool have to take it seriously, which is no bad thing. When they think there on a sure thing they tend to fold.

  • Comment posted by adamplumpton, at 11:36 4 Aug 2017

    surely the 10 champions should play the 10 non champions to give possibility to there being an extra 10 champions instead of a maximum of 5. it is the Champions league after all. admitted theyd all lose!
    I think its disgrace that Celtic can win the league and Arsenal can come 3rd but get more priority. I know the standard is poorer but dont call it the champions league when clearly it isnt!

  • Comment posted by John Prescott , at 11:38 4 Aug 2017

    Champions league where the champions of one country starts the qualifiers before a team that finished 4th in theirs. Its utter rubbish and is just an elitist, money making sham.

  • Comment posted by Duncan, at 11:42 4 Aug 2017

    Hoffenheim will be relieved

  • Comment posted by TangoLima, at 12:52 4 Aug 2017

    Hoffenheim are ranked 19th in world club football, Liverpool 17th.
    They finished 4th in the Bundesliga last year behind Bayern, RB Leipzig and B Dortmund (2pts ahead)
    They didn't lose at home last season.
    They beat Bayern 1-0 at home and drew 1-1 away.

    It's a tough draw.

  • Comment posted by lengjai, at 11:52 4 Aug 2017

    @24 jimbob says "it's unfair that UTD wins a tinpot trophy gets a free pass to the group stage and Liverpool dont, it's UNFAIR".

    The rule has been changed since 2015! If it were the old rules, Liverpool won't be able to qualify for champs league at all!! So appreciate the rules and stop being a child.

  • Comment posted by footfall22, at 11:44 4 Aug 2017

    Hoffenheim got the better of Bayern Munich over their two league games last season and only lost 4 times in the Bundesliga. Potentially a really tricky tie this one.

  • Comment posted by kebabylon, at 12:43 4 Aug 2017

    I'm loving people on here comparing Celtic and Liverpool.

    Liverpool play in a league that gives £100mn to the bottom team, Celtic play in a league that gives £3mn to the winning team You can't compare.

    Mind you, Liverpool have not beat Celtic in a competitive fixture since 1966, and Celtic horsed them 2-0 the last time we played at Anfield.

  • Comment posted by Kodiak, at 13:26 4 Aug 2017

    Celtic should be kicked out after the singing of their abhorrent supporters.

    They should also go play in the Irish league. Or Palestine.

    Disgusting club, rotten on every level.

  • Comment posted by celtic_craig123, at 12:37 4 Aug 2017

    The quality of football in Kazakhstan and Scotland is about equal so even Celtic have a slim chance to go to the next round,but I doubt it,given that Astana usually progress to the next round.

    ____________________________________________________

    Let's keep this simple ... Celtic knocked Astana out, last year! As for standards of football, please remind me who lost to Iceland, last summer?

  • Comment posted by celtic_craig123, at 11:58 4 Aug 2017

    @12 Agreed. Celtic's last round opponents, Rosenborg, may not have been a mighty European side, but were 17 games into their own season. That match sharpness does make a difference. Added to us playing the first leg without an actual striker (!) and the three qualifying stages doesn't help. Scotland = small TV market though, so what does UEFA care if a team of actual CHAMPIONS fails to qualify?!

  • Comment posted by vty, at 13:57 4 Aug 2017

    totally understand the feelings towards celtic ,ashamed and disgusted by the past weeks events ,honestly felt about not supporting anymore.lee rigby is more of a man than those cretins will ever be .rip lee rigby ynwa

  • Comment posted by Wee Brian, at 12:09 4 Aug 2017

    Re 57: the coefficients are biased strongly in favour of the big countries. The fact that 4 English teams go straight into the groups gets England 16 points without playing a single game. Countries like Scotland, and the vast majority of other European countries, would have to win 16 qualifying matches to achieve that total

  • Comment posted by Them, at 11:52 4 Aug 2017

    31. Posted by John Prescott
    Champions league where the champions of one country starts the qualifiers before a team that finished 4th in theirs. Its utter rubbish and is just an elitist, money making sham.
    ___
    And a team that finishes 6th goes straight in tournament

  • Comment posted by Jim, at 15:37 4 Aug 2017

    @Wolf359 "I watch scottish football if I want a laugh".

    So do I. When Griffiths put his second free kick past Hart I almost laughed my socks off.

    Engerland's late equaliser merely turned a humiliation into a humbling. All that money and they celebrated a 2-2 victory against a Celtic second team.

  • Comment posted by celtic_craig123, at 14:28 4 Aug 2017

    @193 Griffiths had numerous objects thrown at him, whilst trying to take a corner kick. He was then yellow carded for 'time wasting'. The objects included a bottle! His actions were unwise, but HE was provoked time after time.

    As for comments on here about some Celtic fans, yes, some are a disgrace. Singing about Lee Rigby was a disgrace and you will find that the majority of us think that.

  • Comment posted by Michael H, at 12:14 4 Aug 2017

    I expect both celtic and Liverpool to go through, but you can never take it for granted, a trip to Kazakhstan in the heat is never easy. With Griffiths back though, celtic should get through. Still don't agree that a team of celtic's stature (and league champions) should have to play 3 qualifying rounds!!

  • Comment posted by LFC1989, at 11:31 4 Aug 2017

    To be fair, if we can't beat Hoffenheim, we don't deserve to be in the champions league.

  • Comment posted by samerulesapply, at 17:28 4 Aug 2017

    All these comments about celtic fans tarred with the scum who sang about Lee Rigby . Really some fans tarnish it so every celtic fan is culpable? In that case all man u fans are scum since a few glorify the Hillsborough disaster. Similarly Liverpool fans about the munich disaster. YEAH all teams have a shameful minority let's all get a grip and agree some fans are just deplorable.

Top Stories

Also in Sport

Elsewhere on the BBC