Yes, can’t see anyone getting too wound up about that. The second half was rather more sprightly than the first, although it was still hardly a classic. Sturridge should have diverted a Milner cross home for Liverpool and Ji clipped the post for Augsburg late on. Both sides will be able to convince themselves that they can do something in the second leg, and that at least tees it up nicely. Bertolt Brecht rather unexpectedly carried us through that during its slower moments although I suspect he’d be turning in his grave at the outcome. Thanks for all your excellent emails and tweets, and for reading. See you again!
Full-time: Augsburg 0-0 Liverpool
Fair’s fair.
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90+2 min: The impressive – going forwards, anyway – Stafylidis fizzes another cross in but nobody is in the box to attack it. Feulner fouls Can to stop Liverpool breaking, and is yellow carded.
90+1 min: “I just heard John Aldridge say on the LFC in-house commentary that neither team really deserves to win the game,” reveals Peter Oh. “Brecht versus Aldridge.”
We have two added minutes to play.
90 min: Coutinho cracks a shot in but, like several before it, it’s deflected off target. Little comes from the corner.
89 min: “I’ve had “Scarlet billows start to spread!” teed up for an age now but it is looking like I’m not going to get a chance to use it.” You started this, Marie Meyer, so I’ll give you the honour of finishing it.
88 min: Another change for Augsburg, Koo Ja-cheol on for Altintop.
87 min: Ji hits the post! My goodness. Caiuby hangs in the air to nod down a right-sided cross and Ji, poised 10 yards out and under pressure from Toure, lashes a low volley that snicks off the base of the frame and out of play! So close for the home side.
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86 min: Liverpool win their sixth corner but Henderson can’t get it beyond the near post. Ibe retrieves the ball and dances into a shooting position, but it’s no trouble for Hitz.
85 min: All of a sudden, Augsburg find themselves with men over on the counter and if Caiuby can get his head up Esswein is storming clear up the right flank. He can’t, and although Esswein eventually gets the ball the chance is fading and it is snuffed out totally when Esswein passes to an offside Verhaegh.
83 min: Martin Fergus has a go at Brecht now, and again it’s not bad – “Steven Caulker, Lucas Leiva, what about Jordan Ibe? They’re all sitting down. Oh, the line forms on the bench, Babe, now that Klopp is back in town!”
82 min: Kohr is down with cramp, but should be ok. Can someone grab a crucial late goal here?
81 min: A change for the hosts. Sunderland stalwart Ji comes on for Werner – not William Hague. And Jordan Ibe replaces Milner for Liverpool.
78 min: After the set piece is cleared, Kohr strikes a speculative shot at Mignolet. The home side are still very much here.
77 min: Yellow card for Moreno after he fouls Feulner, who has played well.
76 min: Well, now the home side have their best chance of the half! Stafylidis gets onto a deep cross from the right with Milner sleeping, and tries to guide the ball into the far corner. It’s off target but Caiuby *almost* gets the touch that would divert it into the vacant goal!
75 min: “A Fuggerstaedter joke? Fugger daboudit, frankly,” says Robin Hazlehurst. Could be a slow last 15...
73 min: And close again for Liverpool – excellent cross from the right by Milner, perhaps the delivery of the night, towards Origi. It screams “gobble me up!” but a defender gets there just in time, knocks the ball against the substitute and over. Werner gets booked for fouling Coutinho in the buildup.
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72 min: That was even more threatening from Moreno at the other end. He hits a swerving 30-yarder that bounces wickedly up off the turf and Hitz, readjusting quickly, does well to paw it past his post. Milner takes another early corner, lofted to Henderson, but not for the first time it doesn’t pay off – Henderson loops his shot well off target.
69 min: Werner crosses tantalisingly to the far post and Moreno, bearings all wrong, manages to head the ball back towards his own goal. Luckily no white shirt is there to snaffle up the gift.
68 min: Augsburg have just steadied things a touch after that spell of Liverpool pressure and chances earlier, and Toure gets across well to prevent Caiuby getting away. Meanwhile, Sturridge comes off and Divock Origi is on. Still no Benteke.
65 min: Liverpool win a corner, through the much more involved Clyne. Milner works it neatly, tightly, with Henderson but can’t put his left foot shot through a crowd of players. Altintop gets away briefly for the home side on the counter, but his legs can’t take him clear and the chance goes.
63 min: “Will we get a draw?” ponders Richard McGahey. “Well, as Brecht said, ‘Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are’. So I guess Brecht thinks someone will score.”
You’d certainly like to think that all this has some end product.
62 min: Athletic Bilbao veteran Aritz Aduriz has just scored an absolute stunner against Marseille – make sure you see it. Think Shearer versus Everton, but even further out.
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60 min: Kohr rather professionally fouls Firmino, who had weaved away through the middle. Booking, no complaints. Liverpool might sense a breakthrough on this evidence ... and they almost get it when, from the free kick, Caiuby’s clearance hits his team-mate Verhaegh, and nearly trickles across the line. Hitz is relieved to get back and gather.
58 min: Now Clyne’s turn to open Augsburg up down the right and win a corner. Liverpool have sharpened up their act here. Can heads the flag kick well over.
55 min: Ohhhhh, Sturridge should score. Firmino delays a pass perfectly for the overlapping Milner, and he fizzes the ball at speed into the unmarked striker at the edge of the six-yard box. He tries to touch it into the far corner but can’t get a good enough contact and the ball drifts well wide, when anything more solid would break the deadlock. At the other end Feulner isn’t too far off with a 25-yarder, and then Sturridge puts a long-ranger of his own straight at Hitz. Is this warming up a bit now?
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@NickAmes82 Halfway through the match and not a single Fuggerstädter joke? Can't decide if I'm impressed or disappointed.
— Luke Jones (@alukejones) February 18, 2016
It was a choice between the high road and the low road, Luke. There’s plenty of time yet to revert to type.
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53 min: Better from Liverpool. Coutinho cleverly leaves a Firmino pass, allowing Moreno clear space on the left of the area. He cuts back to Coutinho, who has run into the area, but the Brazilian jabs well wide of the near post. Their best move of the game, I think.
51 min: There really isn’t a lot happening in the game. Couple of offsides; one was harsh on Henderson but his shot was poor anyway.
49 min: “My Dad taught me that Brecht was into Verfremsdungsaffect, which kind of translates into distancing effect,” explains childhood prodigy Howard Appleby. “Maybe more appropriate for Van Gaal and Manchester United. What does Klopp have to say?”
48 min: Richard Noble says he’s enjoying ‘Klopp the Knife’ and continues – “That was venerably witty. But if we’re talking about things biting... Well, I was wondering if there was any more in the Liverpool rumour mill about a Barcelona striker rejoining the team adding some bite (metaphorical and physical) to their attack.”
47 min: A goalless draw would probably suit Augsburg quite well, I reckon, not that they shouldn’t think they can score here. Get a few players back for the second leg, sneak an away goal against a nervy Liverpool at Anfield, who knows?
Peeeeep!
Second half underway. I’d have thought Liverpool, attack-wise at least, can only improve.
From Steve Coombs:
“Marie Meyer’s song goes on:
‘Just a Benteke has Jürgen Klopp, dear, But he keeps him out of sight’
This could run and run this evening!”
Never know what you’re going to be confronted by next in this job.
@NickAmes82 is that William Hague on the left wing for Augsburg?
— Tim Woods (@tim_hannover) February 18, 2016
On the left wing? Certainly not.
Half-time: Augsburg 0-0 Liverpool
Not a thriller, but a couple of sights of goal apiece and that last one for Esswein was certainly the clearest. Need to see more from Liverpool going forwards here: Augsburg were forced to replace their talismanic striker, Bobadilla, early on but they’ve been slightly the brighter since. Don’t go away.
45+1 min: Best chance of the half for Esswein! That could well, maybe should, have been 1-0. He gets away down the right, cuts inside onto his left foot and has a clear sight of goal – but Mignolet does really well to anticipate, get down and gather the ball as he whips it towards the far corner.
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45 min: The half is pretty much winding down now ... until the home left-back Stafylidis, probably their best attacking threat so far, profits from a mistake by Milner and puts in a good low delivery from the left, cleared again by Sakho. Without Bobadilla, Augsburg don’t really have a focal point for those balls.
42 min: Who said this wasn’t a cultured MBM. Liverpool almost have a wound inflicted themselves as a long shot flashes wide, and at the other end Sturridge can’t get onto a right-sided cross.
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41 min: “You cannot mention Brecht without consequences,” Marie Mayer warns, before continuing –
“Oh the Klopp, has pretty teeth dear, And he shows them pearly white. Just one away goal is what he wants here. But his attack is lacking bite”
39 min: Feulner takes the corner but Sakho defends it well by the near post.
39 min: Dangerous free-kick to Augsburg just beyond the right corner of the area. Werner, left-footed, is poised. Can is causing some aggro in the area. Now it’s whipped in and, after a white shirt gets a flick on, it’s headed out to Stafylidis, whose volley cannons wide off Firmino...
37 min: Elsewhere, it’s Gary Neville’s Valencia 5-0 Rapid Vienna after 35 minutes....
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36 min: Played straight out to Henderson on the edge of the area. He tries to weigh one up and beyond Hitz but it has neither direction nor power and the ‘keeper claims.
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35 min: But now Sturridge runs forwards and, ignoring the option of Henderson – who is frustrated with that – has a shot deflected wide. Corner, on the left...
34 min: Coutinho, on song so far, plays a lovely no-look flick to Can, albeit in a pretty unthreatening area, and the midfielder can’t make too much of it. No exactly seat-of-the-pants stuff here yet.
32 min: Some decent possession for Augsburg, now, and it ends up with the ball being worked well to Feulner on the right byline. Sakho clears his low cross.
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30 min: Nice work by Stafylidis down the Augsburg left but his lofted cross to the back post is controlled by the arm of Caiuby.
29 min: Moreno plays a nice give-and-go with Coutinho and bustles down the left but Esswein, the right midfielder, is back superbly to get to the line and see the ball out for a goal kick.
27 min: Maybe the loss of Bobadilla will provoke a siege mentality among his peers. They’ve had a couple of bright moments in the last few minutes but it’s hard to really see where any incision would come from.
25 min: None just yet, although Toure slides in very adroitly to stop Klavan pouncing onto a free kick inside the box. Then Altintop fizzes a low 30-yarder that gives Mignolet no problems.
Augsburg is the birthplace of Brecht @NickAmes82 It has the world's oldest social housing complex: the Fuggerei (1520) @NewsLiverpool
— dave ches (@fladgy) February 18, 2016
Expecting some epic drama in the next 65 minutes, then...
23 min: That is, indeed, the end of Bobadilla. He’s replaced by the Brazilian forward, Caiuby. No slight on the replacement, but this is a big, big blow for Augsburg. They were injury-hit as it was, and now they’ve lost their main threat.
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22 min: Almost a clear chance for Sturridge. Liverpool pop the ball around the edge of the box; they lose it but Coutinho quickly wins it back and slips through towards the striker, who is just about through on goal until Klavan – I think – tackles him in the nick of time.
20 min: Janker is booked for arriving too late to a meeting of heft with Sakho.
19 min: Jonathon Moloney has the answer to the Klopp clobber query –
“When in charge at BVB, he always said that as the European games had more gravitas than league games, he felt it appropriate to dress in a suit. Bit disrespectful to domestic competitions, but there you have it!”
A bit like wearing a gown for a finals exam, maybe.
17 min: Promising move between Moreno and Coutinho, but then Milner’s attempt at a first-time ball to Firmino doesn’t quite come off. Not exactly blood and thunder here so far; both sides pretty much cancelling each other out, but Liverpool marginally the more incisive.
15 min: Haven’t seen a lot of Bobadilla since that early alarm, so it’s hard to tell what shape he’s in. No really explosive movements have been demanded of him for 10 minutes or so; perhaps that’s been long enough for him to run the problem off.
13 min: Outswinger from Milner, a looped header on from Can, a flick from Sturridge and a gather from Hitz. Then a few handbags between Hitz and Toure, the latter trying to stop the goalkeeper releasing the ball early.
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12 min: Liverpool win a corner after Klavan blocks a Henderson sighter...
11 min: Hubert O’Hearn asks, “Klopp is looking all John Le Carre in a suit and dark raincoat. It’s almost jarring to see given his usual taste for training wear and baseball caps. I wonder, why the change to Klopp’s clobber?”
Looking to smarten up for everyone back home? Perhaps they can’t see the sartorial depths he’s slumped to on Merseyside.
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10 min: Now Firmino does well to reach a Moreno ball down the left and crosses well towards Sturridge, but a defender is just in there first.
8 min: Chance for Firmino! Augsburg knock the ball around in their own half harmlessly enough, but Liverpool start applying some pressure and Feulner undercooks one woefully. It sends Firmino on his way and, with an option to his right and plenty of time to line up a shot, he should do better than shoot quite lamely at Hitz.
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6 min: He’s still in trouble, glancing to the bench and looking up to the skies. Would be surprised if he carried on much longer at this rate. Play continues though, and so does he.
5 min: Bobadilla is feeling his hamstring a little, after chasing for a ball down the right. Looks a bit concerned – it’d be a hammer blow for the home team if anything is up with him.
4 min: First shot of the game and it’s for Bobadilla, Sakho heading away a Stafylidis centre unconvincingly before the Paraguayan puts a bouncing volley over from the edge of the box. Could have done a shade better there.
3 min: Toure tries a chipped ball forward to nobody. Fairly slow first few minutes but some evidence of Liverpool, as Klopp likes, pressing high.
1 min: Bobadilla isn’t too far away from controlling a direct ball over the top. Is that how the hosts will look to operate?
Peeeeep! We're underway
Liverpool are in red, Augsburg in white.
The teams are out on the pitch – hold on to your hats...
Klopp speaks! “We heard a lot about the targets of Augsburg, it’s their biggest game in history and blah blah blah, so we have to show that we are ready from the first minute and want to go through.”
The atmosphere in the Bavarian club’s stadium is absolutely bouncing – Augsburg, weakened by injury though they may be, are up for this.
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Here’s a look at what the seriously ripped Augsburg dangerman Bobadilla is capable of:
Full-time in the other two games!
Midtjylland 2-1 Manchester United ... and I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about that.
Fiorentina 1-1 Tottenham ... which isn’t a bad result for Spurs at all.
What can we expect from Augsburg v Liverpool? Email nick.ames.casual@theguardian.com or tweet @NickAmes82.
Worth noting, here, that Augsburg will be without a number of useful players due to injury. Jan Moravek, Daniel Baier sidelined, Piotr Trochowski and Jeong-Ho Hong all miss out – the latter two were both taken off in the second half of their 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich at the weekend.
Midtjylland have just taken a 2-1 lead over Manchester United. Batten down the hatches...
Is that ex-Sunderland forward Ji Dong-won on the Augsburg bench? It certainly is. He’s found goals rather hard to come by so far this season – only two in total and none in the league. Bobadilla, the Paraguayan, is their real dangerman tonight and starts up top.
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There are other games going on as we speak. Both Midtjylland v Manchester United and Fiorentina v Tottenham are poised at 1-1 with 20 minutes or so left, so you might want to check in on those MBMs before we get going in earnest here.
Tonight's teams
Augsburg: Hitz, Verhaegh, Janker, Klavan, Stafylidis, Feulner, Esswein, Kohr, Altintop, Werner, Bobadilla. Subs: Gelios, Opare, Koo, Ji, Caiuby, Max, Thommy.
Liverpool: Mignolet, Clyne, Toure, Sakho, Moreno, Henderson, Can, Milner, Coutinho, Firmino, Sturridge. Subs: Ward, Randall, Caulker, Lucas, Ibe, Origi, Benteke.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the first time Jurgen Klopp has named an unchanged side since joining Liverpool.
Evening all
Welcome to the Europa League! Or should that be the “little Champions League”? Jurgen Klopp thinks this competition is of particularly high quality and Liverpool may well have their work cut out tonight in Augsburg, where the Bundesliga’s 14th-placed side are primed for one of the biggest nights in their history.
They’ve certainly done plenty to make Liverpool feel welcome. That Scouse-->German translation was a good little wheeze – at least until joyless tragics on Twitter started hailing it a “great piece of social content” – and the home side should make things pretty fun on the pitch too. There were 23 goals in their six group stage games, the last of which saw them pull qualification out of the fire right at the death in Belgrade, and in Raul Bobadilla they have a powerhouse striker who Klopp says “you need a navigation system to get around”. Whatever happens over the next two legs, Markus Wienzierl’s team will not be going quietly.
It’s well worth Liverpool taking this seriously. Needless to say, it’s their best chance of a Champions League spot for next season – they’ll have to win the thing but Klopp says that they’re one of the few teams that realistically can, so take that to mean they’ll have a properly good go. Saturday’s thrashing of Aston Villa will have done them no harm, not least because minimal exertion was required, and Liverpool look good for a serious, studied tilt at reclaiming a trophy that – under its old guise – they last won in 2001.
Expect a fast tempo and a few goals. Can’t have cursed that in any way whatsoever. Kick-off is at 8.05pm UK time, but email and Twitter are open right now if you’d like to put any salient points across.
Nick will be here shortly. In the meantime, read Andy Hunter’s report from Augsburg, where Jürgen Klopp has warned Liverpool to be at their best:
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