The reality of a new era for the UEFA Champions League will dawn on clubs today as the 36 participants learn which eight teams they’ll face in the competition’s controversial new format.
The long-standing structure of eight groups of four feeding into a straightforward knockout phase has been replaced by a ‘Swiss model’ whereby every club will be ranked in one large table, with the top eight progressing straight to the round of 16 and the sides finishing 9th to 24th going into a play-off round.
Liverpool will discover their opponents in the league stage shortly after 5pm UK time this evening, with the Reds being seeded in the highest of the four draw pots.
Arne Slot’s side will be drawn against two teams from each pot, with the qualifying conditions that they can face no more than two sides from the same country and can’t be drawn against a fellow Premier League club. They’ll face each opponent once, with four matches at Anfield and four away (one from each pot).
With that in mind, let’s assess the potential opponents for LFC in this new Champions League format, along with our verdict on the best and worst case scenarios for the Reds.
Follow Empire of the Kop on Instagram (@empireofthekop) HERE
Pot 1: Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Internazionale, Paris Saint-Germain, RB Leipzig, Real Madrid
As expected, the highest seeding pot contains plenty of European royalty (along with Man City), with the potential opponents stirring up memories of glorious nights from the past, along with a certain Spanish side who’ve inflicted continual misery on us in recent years.
Holders Real Madrid are obviously one to avoid, especially considering our record against them in the Jurgen Klopp era. Despite losing their 11-year grip on the Bundesliga title last season, Bayern Munich are also perennially present in the latter stages of this tournament.
On a happier note, the Reds eased past Leipzig in the round of 16 in 2021, eliminating Inter at the same stage a year later, and the prospect of Barcelona coming to Anfield would inevitably evoke memories of a truly epic night in May 2019!
A clash against Dortmund would also feel poignant due to the mutual Klopp connection and throw up flashbacks to the classic Europa League quarter-final of 2016, along with Signal Iduna Park being an incredible stadium to visit if that’s our away fixture from Pot 1.
Pot 2: AC Milan, Atalanta, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Benfica, Club Brugge, Juventus, Shakhtar Donetsk
Liverpool met three of their potential Pot 2 opponents on their route to Champions League glory in 2005 (Leverkusen, Juventus, Milan) and the final in 2022 (Milan and Atletico in the group stage, Benfica in the quarter-finals).
There’s also the possibility of a rematch against Atalanta, who dumped us out along the way to winning the Europa League last season.
A meeting with Brugge would resonate with LFC fans of a certain vintage who can recall beating them in two European finals in the 1970s, with Shakhtar the only side in this pot that we’ve never faced before.
A trip to Belgium would make for a nice away day, while the Reds would fancy their chances against the Ukrainian side, particularly at Anfield. Conversely, we’d rather avoid Atletico and Atalanta, both of whom have inflicted painful home defeats on us in Europe in recent years.
Pot 3: Celtic, Dinamo Zagreb, Feyenoord, Lille, PSV Eindhoven, Red Bull Salzburg, Red Star Belgrade, Sporting CP, Young Boys
Pot 3 presents ample opportunity for reunions, with both Brendan Rodgers (Celtic) and Pep Lijnders (Salzburg) potentially coming back to Anfield, along with Slot possibly coming up against Feyenoord.
Several of our prospective opponents here had to come through the play-offs to make it to the league phase, so theoretically the Reds should fancy themselves against the likes of Dinamo Zagreb, Red Star, Salzburg and Lille.
However, the Serbian outfit beat us in a hostile Belgrade six years ago, and the Croatian capital has also proven tricky for other English clubs. If we are to get either of those, we’d much rather have them at Anfield.
From a travel perspective, Celtic or either of the Dutch teams would be welcomed. The Glasgow giants have a wretched record in this competition in recent years, too.
Pot 4: Bologna, Brest, Girona, Monaco, Slovan Bratislava, Sparta Prague, Sturm Graz, Stuttgart
Curiously, each of what are commonly dubbed the ‘big five’ European domestic leagues are represented in Pot 4 after last season saw numerous unfancied sides crack the top four of their respective top flights (Aston Villa, Bologna, Brest, Girona, Stuttgart).
Central Europe is also well represented with potential opponents from Austria, Czechia and Slovakia, with Liverpool having visited two of those nations in the 2023/24 Europa League.
Despite not being in the Champions League for many years, Monaco and Stuttgart stand out as perhaps the toughest possible draws here, while Bologna could also be tricky.
On the other hand, Sparta Prague would probably be welcomed after our 11-2 aggregate romp against them in March (not to mention the potential for a brilliant away trip), while Brest have had a slow start in Ligue 1 and could find the step up to Europe’s premier club competition rather challenging.
Best-case scenario
Dortmund (A), Leipzig (H), Shakhtar (H), Brugge (A), Celtic (A), Red Star (H), Sparta (A), Brest (H)
Worst-case scenario
Bayern (H), Real Madrid (A), Atalanta (H), Atletico (A), PSV (H), Sporting CP (A), Monaco (H), Stuttgart (A)
EOTK Close-up with John Welsh: ‘a local lad who lived his dream’ and Slot’s LFC predictions