Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool's last-16 draw against RB Leipzig is "as tough as it gets".
The Reds will face Die Roten Bullen in the first knockout round of the Champions League in February after the draw took place in Nyon on Monday.
The Premier League champions and six-time winners of the European Cup will travel to Germany and face Julian Nagelsmann's men on February 16 at the Red Bull Arena while the return leg is set to take place at Anfield on March 10.
“Pretty much as tough as it gets," Klopp said in response to the draw.
"I was pretty sure we would get one of the Germany teams – either ‘Gladbach or Leipzig, both are strong.
“Leipzig played in the semi-final last year and this year look good again. In a very difficult, tricky group they went through and says pretty much everything about them, outstanding.
“I think because they played in the semi-final last year, probably English people now know them better but usually it is like, ‘Liverpool are big favourites’ – but it will be a tough one.
“It is the last 16 of the Champions League, so how can you find 15 other clubs who are not strong in Europe when you play in this competition? It is not possible.
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“So, that’s the draw, we take it. It’s still a long time until we meet them, a lot of games to play between now and then, a lot of things can happen, but I am excited.
“I never played against Leipzig – they came up to the Bundesliga after I left, so I have never been in their stadium, but it is a wonderful city and let’s see.”
Klopp will come face-to-face with Leipzig coach Nagelsmann, 33, in the competition next year - just as he did when the Reds beat Hoffenheim in the play-off rounds in 2017.
The Liverpool manager told the club's official website : “We played against Julian Nagelsmann, the coach, when he was at Hoffenheim, which was a tough one.
"Now he has a better team, a really exciting team. Lost Timo Werner, still in the top three of the Bundesliga, that says really everything about them.
"He is definitely someone I have a lot of respect for.
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“In comparison, Thomas [Tuchel] is, I don’t know the age, but Hansi [Flick] I think is a little bit older than me. [Nagelsmann] will be in world football for the next 20 or 30 years. He is now in his early 30s, that says everything.
“He coached a Bundesliga team in Germany when he was 28, which is a really exceptional story.
"I like what he is doing, I really like what he is doing. I have a lot of respect for his work. Being at that age, now he is in the age I was when I started coaching but he is doing it already for five or six years, which is really exceptional. Still young.
“I’m afraid to say but probably will still get better and better over the years, like we all got, but is already really highest quality. It will be a tough one.”
