Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp will look to get the better of a familiar Bundesliga foe when the English Premier League side travel to Augsburg for today’s Europa League last 32, first leg.
The match at the Augsburg Arena - one of the most intriguing of 15 games on Thursday including holders Sevilla at home to Molde, Manchester United at Midtjylland and Fiorentina at home to Tottenham Hotspur - is Klopp’s first back in his native Germany since he took over at Anfield in October.
Klopp came up against Augsburg 10 times as coach of Mainz and Borussia Dortmund, winning only two, drawing three and losing five, and his assistant Peter Krawietz cautioned against underestimating the Bavarian club.
Augsburg are struggling in 14th in Germany’s top flight this season but finished fifth last term to qualify for Europe’s second-tier club competition. It will be the first meeting between the two sides.
“We know it is a team which is very hard-working, very compact in defence and quick in attacking the opponent with a clear idea,” Krawietz said on Liverpool’s website on Tuesday.
“You can take the [previous] results and say ‘it will be easy’ but I can promise it won’t be easy,” he added.
“It’s a big game for them and something like an historical game for them against Liverpool. This will be a big, big challenge for us.”
Sevilla start their bid for a third consecutive Europa League triumph when they entertain Norwegian minnows Molde, while their La Liga rivals Villarreal host Napoli and Gary Neville’s Valencia are at home to Rapid Vienna.
Valencia’s 2-1 comeback victory at home to Espanyol in La Liga on Saturday eased some of the pressure on Neville, the former Manchester United and England defender who has made a stuttering start to his first top-flight coaching job.
“Beating Espanyol was important for us,” club captain Dani Parejo said. “Now we want to carry these positive sensations into Thursday’s clash against Rapid.”
United manager Louis van Gaal has left captain Wayne Rooney out of his squad for the game at Midtjylland and included youngsters Will Keane, Regan Poole, Joe Riley and James Weir, who are yet to make their senior debuts.
Midfielder Marouane Fellaini warned his team-mates not to take anything for granted.
“They will be very aggressive as they want to win and show that they are a good team,” Fellaini told United’s website on Monday.
Napoli are looking to bounce back after they surrendered top spot in Serie A to Juventus thanks to Saturday’s 1-0 reverse to the champions in Turin.
“We are trying to forget [the defeat] as soon as possible and we are lucky to be playing in Spain Thursday so we are quickly back onto the pitch,” coach Maurizio Sarri said.
Thursday’s other matches include Dortmund at home to Porto, Bayer Leverkusen at Sporting Lisbon, Schalke at Shakhtar Donetsk and Galatasaray at home to Lazio.
Athletic Bilbao, the 2012 runners-up, play at Olympique Marseille.

Key Fixtures (Qatar time)
At 9pm
Midtjylland vs Man United
Dortmund vs Porto
Fiorentina vs Tottenham
Villarreal vs Napoli

At 11:05pm
FC Augsburg vs Liverpool
Shakhtar vs Schalke 04