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SportsCasting

Kieran Lynch

Champions League Fixtures: Who Liverpool Could Play In Last-16

Liverpool UEFA Champions League the Champions League Manchester City AC Milan Atletico Madrid Paris Saint-Germain Real Madrid the Round of 16 Arsenal

Liverpool qualified for the Champions League Round of 16 with a 2-1 victory over Lille on Tuesday night and supporters will be keen to see what kind of fixtures the Reds in the later stages of the competition.

Arne Slot’s side went seven wins for seven on Tuesday night and will finish no lower than second in the new league phase format of the competition.

All Liverpool had to do was finish in the top-eight to avoid a play-off round to reach the last-16 of the competition.

However, where you finish in the league phase does matter. As, where you place in the league creates the knockout bracket – unlike previous seasons where there would be open draws.

The new “seeding” system means the highest-placed teams can’t face each other until the latter stages of the knockout round.

So should Barcelona remain in the top two alongside Liverpool, then both of those teams won’t be able to play each other until the final.

The teams in third and fourth – currently Atletico Madrid and Atalanta – wouldn’t be able to play the top-two until the semi-finals.

However, the value of being placed high in the table might not be quite the reward that would normally be expected. Liverpool could face some difficult fixtures in the Champions League Round of 16.

Securing our spot in the last 16 ✅✨ pic.twitter.com/lNQNouysss

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 21, 2025

Liverpool Champions League Fixtures: Who Could They Play In The Round Of 16?

By finishing in the top two, Liverpool will play home and away fixtures against a side that finishes between 15th and 18th in the Champions League Round of 16.

The two-legged play-off round will see the side who finishes 15th play the 18th ranked team, while 16th will go against 17th.

At present, the teams occupying the spots between 15th and 18th are AC Milan, PSV Eindhoven, Club Brugge and Benfica.

Liverpool have already played AC Milan this season but have not had fixtures against any of the other three sides occupying those positions in the Champions League. Though they do play PSV in Gameweek 8.

However, a host of top clubs could still occupy those positions by the end of the league phase. Depending on how results go on Wednesday night, Borussia Dortmund (13th) and Juventus (14th) could slip into those four spots.

Liverpool could still face Manchester City in the last-16

Lurking outside the top 18 include sides like Real Madrid (22nd), Manchester City (24th) and PSG (26th).

Real Madrid host RB Salzburg on Wednesday night so are expected to move up a few positions. Manchester City face PSG meaning one of those sides could occupy a spot between 15th and 18th by the end of Gameweek 7.

But Liverpool could still theoretically play anyone as high as third-placed Atletico Madrid in the Round of 16.

That means Liverpool could also face tricky opponents like Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, Aston Villa and Bayern Munich if those sides slipped down the table in the final week.

The only sides Liverpool know they won’t face are Barcelona, Girona and RB Salzburg (who both can’t finish higher than 22nd) as well as the sides that won’t progress in the competition.

Teams that have crashed out of the Champions League include Bologna, Red Star, Sturm Graz, RB Leipzig, Slovan Bratislava and Young Boys.