By Alex Sloane @sloaneaw
After crashing out in the group stages in 2009, we have waited 5 long years for our next venture into the Champions League. Start preparing your potential away day trips now!
Back in 2009, Fiorentina, Debrecen and Lyon stood in our way, but unlike then, the Reds will this year find themselves in pot 3. This opens up the prospect of a very tough group but after the season we just had there is no doubting we can give the very best teams in Europe a game.
Being in pot 3 does guarantee us an away day against one of the ‘big boys’; Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletico, Bayern, Benfica or Porto. But in addition to this tough ties against pot 2 teams, such as; Dortmund, Juventus or PSG are also possible.
If you are looking for an easy group that we can cruise through… good luck! Arguably the best case scenario would be; Porto, Zenit and BATE. Not the most glamourous away trips but a great chance of progressing through to the knockout stages.
If you want drama and to see the beautiful game at it’s very best; take your pick from pot 1; (Real, Barca, Bayern, Athletico), PSG or Dortmund from pot 2 and Monaco or Roma from pot 4.
If I were a gambling man I would predict one thing; Luis Suarez returning from his ban at Anfield with Barcelona in a crucial group game.
A table with all likely qualifiers is below, see you on the continent!
