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.