The Anfield home team are facing a new challenge after they were knocked out of the Europa League by Villarreal.

The Reds were knocked off by Barcelona at the Bernabeu in a Group C tie on Wednesday, leaving the Catalans with the tie as their opening match in the Champions League.

Liverpool have struggled in Europe and have not won in the group stage of the competition since 2007.

“The players and the fans have been great,” said Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.

“I’m not going to get into the history of the team but I think we’ve been fantastic and we’ve played good football and we can’t be proud of what we’ve done in this competition.”

You want to win and to get the chance to play in the European competitions, you want to take that.

“It’s a great challenge and I’m very happy that we’ve got the chance.”

The draw for the group stages means Liverpool face a tough trip to the Nou Camp to face the reigning champions on Sunday.

They will be hoping for a better performance than the 2-1 loss to Barcelona in the first leg of the group, which ended with Luis Suarez scoring a late equaliser for the Catalas.

The Uruguayan striker has scored four goals in the Europa Leagues, but the hosts will be looking for another in a group which includes Chelsea, PSG and Bayern Munich.

“They’ve had a very difficult game against a very strong team,” said Rodgers.

“We need to be more consistent in the second leg and we’ll be looking to be better in the game against the Barcelona team.”

“We’re all very hungry to play, but it’s not about scoring a few goals.

We’re all in the same boat and we need to try to score goals to make sure we’re up there.”

Liverpool v Villarbalero (Saturday)Venue: Anfield, EnglandKick-off: 19:00 GMT (17:00 CET)Tickets: £20 (plus applicable tax)Supporters group: Liverpool FCSupporters’ matchday programme: Watch the match on Sky Sports 1HD (live) on Saturday at 18:00 BSTTickets are still available for the second half of the fixture on BT Sport.