Philippe Coutinho is missing out on all the fun.

Again without its Brazilian attacker in the lineup amid interest from Barcelona, Liverpool stormed to a 4-2 defeat of Hoffenheim on Wednesday, advancing to the Champions League group stages with a 6-3 aggregate victory.

The Reds are in the process of re-establishing themselves as the Premier League’s greatest entertainers, and did their notoriety on the continental front no harm in an outing that saw the attacking triumvirate of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, and Mohamed Salah run riot.

Salah and Firmino both weighed in with goals, and Emre Can added a brace from midfield. The home side is seldom commended for its defending, though, and unsurprisingly surrendered tallies to Mark Uth and Sandro Wagner during the test.

Liverpool will finally compete in the Champions League under Jurgen Klopp, and for the first time since the 2014-15 campaign’s disappointing elimination under Real Madrid and FC Basel in Group B when Brendan Rodgers was in charge.

Hoffenheim, meanwhile, drops into the Europa League.

The red-clad masses at Anfield collectively gasped early on when Wagner peeled away from the Reds’ defence and squared for Serge Gnabry. With the goal at the unmarked ex-Arsenal winger’s mercy, he somehow sent his effort wide, but his blushes were spared by the linesman’s flag.

Liverpool took advantage of its superiority after 10 minutes. A galloping Mane couldn’t reach the momentum required to lose the attentions of Pavel Kaderabek, so he held up the ball before releasing an overlapping Can with a deft backheel. The German’s deflected effort wrong-footed goalkeeper Oliver Baumann.

The home side was purring, and by 21 minutes it was 3-0 up after Salah and Can (again) got on the scoresheet. The latter effort was extremely pleasing on the eye, with a stunning team move concluded by ex-Hoffenheim favourite Firmino fluttering a cross over to Can to volley in at the back stick.

Related – Watch: Can gem caps Liverpool’s 21-minute treble

Hoffenheim was reeling, prompting Julian Nagelsmann to substitute West Ham United flop Havard Nordtveit after 24 minutes and reassess his team’s approach. Nordtveit’s replacement, Uth, scored before the half-hour mark, but Liverpool was undeterred and looked the likeliest to add to its tally before the break.

Liverpool’s defence continued to look susceptible in the second stanza, but its fluid and persistent strikeforce was rewarded when Firmino claimed a deserved goal with an easy side-footed finish. Credit to Jordan Henderson for the assist, who hounded the ball off Kevin Vogt before sliding it across to Firmino.

Wagner, who was busy in the Hoffenheim frontline, produced a consolation on 79 minutes with a well-executed header.

Liverpool is now expected to fall into pot three for Thursday’s Champions League group-stage draw, but whether Coutinho will be representing the Scouse club for that conquest remains to be seen.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — After sitting out three weeks with a strained hamstring, New York Jets running back Matt Forte returned to practice Tuesday and claimed he will be ready for the season opener against the Buffalo Bills.

“No doubt,” he said.

Forte, 31, said he hopes to play Saturday night against the New York Giants, but that hasn’t been confirmed yet. The Jets want to see how he progresses throughout the week before making that determination.

“That’s my goal,” Forte said. “I don’t know what the coaches’ plan is, but that’s my plan.”

Forte, injured July 31 in the third practice of training camp, went through a similar ordeal last summer. He injured the same hamstring in a pre-camp workout and missed the first two preseason games. It was actually a torn hamstring, he revealed Tuesday, one that required an injection of platelet-rich plasma.

“This one, there was no tear in it, it was just a [grade I] strain,” he said. “It took about the same amount of time to actually heal up. … To get back to full speed, it took a couple weeks, which I wasn’t expecting. You can’t predict that type of stuff.”

Forte and fellow running back Bilal Powell are the most accomplished players on an inexperienced offense, and the Jets have big plans for both.

Five teams realised their dreams of reaching the 2017-18 Champions League group stage on Tuesday, while the quintet who fell short in the second legs of the play-off phase will now test themselves in the Europa League.

Here, theScore runs through the goals and events of all five of Tuesday’s fixtures.

Astana 4-3 Celtic (4-8 aggregate)

Goals:

• Astana: Kristoffer Ajer – 26′ (own goal)

• Celtic: Scott Sinclair – 33′

• Astana: Serikzhan Muzhikov – 48′

• Astana: Patrick Twumasi – 49′

• Astana: Patrick Twumasi – 69′

• Celtic: Olivier Ntcham – 79′

• Celtic: Leigh Griffiths – 90′

An overwhelming advantage almost turned into disaster for Celtic, but despite losing the second leg, the Scottish champion managed to sneak past Astana and into the Champions League group stage with an 8-4 aggregate victory.

A path to the group stage was crystal clear before the Kazakhstan outfit jumped out to a 4-1 lead. But fears of an meltdown were allayed by a late Celtic charge to secure progression.

Maribor 1-0 Hapoel Beer-Sheva (2-2)

Goals:

• Maribor: Mitja Viler – 15′

A crucial late save from Jasmin Handanovic – younger cousin of Inter Milan shot-stopper Samir – booked Maribor’s route into the Champions League group stages on away goals.

Hapoel Beer-Sheva had slightly more of the ball in Slovenia, but forwards Anthony Nwakaeme – a goalscorer in the previous encounter – and Mohammad Ghadir struggled to influence the game.

Maribor wound up last in Group G during the 2014-15 Champions League, when it finished below Chelsea, Schalke, and Sporting CP.

Nice 0-2 Napoli (0-4)

Goals:

• Napoli: Jose Maria Callejon – 48′
• Napoli: Lorenzo Insigne – 89′

Mario Balotelli and Wesley Sneijder floundered as Nice limped to a 2-0 loss to Napoli at the Allianz Riviera.

Napoli – tipped by many as the team most likely to topple Juventus in Serie A – professionally overcame the Alpes-Maritimes club with second-half tallies helped by questionable defending from Maxime Le Marchand and Dante.

Nice will participate in the Europa League for the second consecutive term.

Rijeka 0-1 Olympiacos (1-3)

Goals:

• Olympiacos: Marko Marin – 25′

Marko Marin, one of many players who drifted into obscurity through a series of loan spells while on Chelsea’s books, gave Olympiacos a valuable cushion in Rijeka with a neat, lifted finish.

Rijeka’s elimination at the play-off stage isn’t down to a want of trying, but Matjaz Kek’s ranks were wasteful with 12 attempts missing the target.

Sevilla 2-2 Istanbul Basaksehir (4-3)

Goals:

• Istanbul Basaksehir: Eljero Elia – 17′
• Sevilla: Sergio Escudero – 52′
• Sevilla: Wissam Ben Yedder – 75′
• Istanbul Basaksehir: Edin Visca – 83′

Istanbul Basaksehir fell short of an historic Champions League adventure despite a spirited performance in Andalusia.

Equipped with former Premier League regulars Gael Clichy, Emre Belozoglu, and Emmanuel Adebayor, the Turkish minnow opened the scoring through standout Eljero Elia, and then responded to two Sevilla strikes with Edin Visca’s late equaliser.

But Basaksehir will compete in the Europa League in 2017-18 – not bad for a team that only returned to the Turkish Super Lig from the second tier in 2014.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

RENTON, Wash. — The Seattle Seahawks have acquired offensive lineman Matt Tobin and a 2018 seventh-round pick from the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a fifth-round pick.

Tobin entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Iowa in 2013. He has started 21 games in four seasons and has played both tackle and guard.

The Seahawks lost starting left tackle George Fant to a season-ending knee injury during Friday’s preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Seattle coach Pete Carroll said Monday that second-year player Rees Odhiambo would get a shot to replace Fant. The team could also move Luke Joeckel over from left guard, and rookie Ethan Pocic could compete there as well.

None of Tobin’s starts have come at left tackle, but he has filled in there before and is expected to compete for playing time at that spot.