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Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has claimed his club belong in the Champions League as he has offered up some passionate words ahead of their return to Europe's elite competition on Tuesday. Bulgarian champions Lodogorets are the first Champions League visitors to Anfield since December 2009 and Rodgers was in bullish mood as he prepared to make his first appearance in the competition as a manager. - Kelly: Liverpool back in Champions League, at last
- Lovren confident Liverpool's defence will get better "We are not tourists in this competition -- we believe it is where we belong and where we should be playing," he told reporters. "For the players and everyone involved it's something that brings the real excitement, but it isn't a 'giddy' excitement. "We are Liverpool, we are five times winners of the European Cup and we are synonymous with its best traditions. Our players are excited by the challenges ahead, not daunted by them. We have earned the right to be there, that's the important thing." The Liverpool boss went on to insist Liverpool's Champions League appearance this season cannot be a brief flirtation with the big time, as he is targeting a lengthy stay in the competition. "It's difficult to get in it and it will be even harder to stay in it," continued Rodgers. "What qualification has done has brought greater resources to the club and allows us to add depth and strength and build something here but it doesn't make it any easier. That's the challenge and the beauty of being in the Premier League. "You've got a fight on your hands to be up in it every year. The club went through a great period for many years at that level and then to be out of it. You see the struggles it brings when you're not in it as well. "We're building here and still a work in progress in many aspects of the football team and the club but it's very important for us to really enjoy it and embrace everything and look to ensure we stay in it. "It's something we will expect as a group. We aim to be the best. Sustaining the club in this competition is important. It hits home as soon as you actually see ourselves back in the Champions League how much it can actually be missed." Rodgers went on to reflect on his personal rise from being a member of Jose Mourinho coaching staff at Chelsea on their epic Champions League nights against the like of Barcelona and Liverpool, as he suggested he always imagined himself being in the position he finds himself in now. "I had an experience of a Champions League final in Moscow," he added of the 2008 final when he travelled as part of the Chelsea staff for the all-Premier League final against Manchester United. "I remember walking out of the tunnel when the teams were coming out and I was behind them. I was picturing myself as the manager in a Champions League final. "I was putting myself in that position and what it might be like. So when we were walking out I was framing the mindset that one day, if this was to happen, then I will have been here before. "At that time in my mind I was preparing towards being the manager. With all the experiences of games in that period, they all helped me because in my mind I was looking at the game and making decisions as a manager. "There have been many very good coaches that have never had the opportunity to work [at this level]. I feel totally relaxed at the level and around the big games. This is it. I have worked all my life as a coach. "I have been able to sample it in a second position really from a coaching perspective so I know the dynamics around the Champions League and the excitement it brings to everyone involved. "It's something that I have really, really wanted to experience as a coach. At 41 to be able to get the chance to do it is really young but it's something I'm really looking forward to."
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