The new Champions League campaign is just around the corner, and Liverpool will be among the teams competing in it this season, as the club awaits its fate in the competition.
Liverpool will learn its Champions League fate for the coming season(Image: (Photo by Kristian Skeie – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images))
Liverpool is set to learn its fate in the Champions League for the coming season, with the draw for Europe’s top competition just around the corner.
The Reds snuck into the tournament through a fifth-placed Premier League finish last season, as England’s coefficient with UEFA managed to earn the division an extra spot, with four places being the usual number allocated via the league.
There is some hope that the Merseyside outfit can do better under Andoni Iraola than they managed last season under Arne Slot, who put up little fight in a quarter-final defeat to eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain. Before thoughts about the knockout stage can even begin, however, Liverpool needs to discover who it will be facing off in the league stage of the contest again.
With the draw for that coming up, here’s a look at everything you need to know about it.
When is the Champions League draw?
(Image: Getty Images)
The Champions League draw will take place on Thursday, August 27, at 6pm CET (5pm BST, 12pm EDT, 9am PDT). It is being hosted at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, with each team learning its eight opponents.
How does the draw work?
The Champions League draw will split the 36 qualified teams into four separate pots, based on coefficients and past performances, which will determine which teams can face which.
Each side will take on two teams from each pot, one home and one away, to sort out eight overall matches that make up the league phase.
Last season, Liverpool drew Real Madrid and Inter Milan from pot one, Atletico Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt from pot two, PSV Eindhoven and Marseille from pot three, and Qarabag and Galatasaray from pot four.
Which Champions League pot is Liverpool in?
Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola(Image: Michael Driver/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Liverpool has once again been put into pot one, putting the team among some of the most famous clubs in the competition, from current holders PSG and Bayern Munich to Real Madrid and Barcelona.
How to watch the Champions League draw
The Champions League draw will be available to watch via live stream on UEFA’s website, while broadcasters will also be showing all of the action from Monaco.
TNT Sports will be broadcasting the show on its UK TV channels, as well as on YouTube as a free-to-air programme, while HBO Max and CBS Sports will be streaming the draw as it happens in the US.
Possible opponents
Liverpool could face off with plenty of huge teams in the coming weeks, though the rules state that it cannot take on another team from its own country. That rules out a meeting with Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Aston Villa.
The rules also state that once a team from a country has been draw, then another team from the same country cannot be drawn again. For example, if the Reds draw Real Madrid, then they cannot face Barcelona or Atletico Madrid of Spain.
The possible opponents are as follows:
Pot One:
- PSG
- Bayern Munich
- Real Madrid
- Inter Milan
- Barcelona
- Atletico Madrid
Pot Two:
- Borussia Dortmund
- Roma
- Sporting
- Porto
- Club Brugge
- PSV Eindhoven
- Real Betis
Pot Three:
- Feyenoord
- Lille
- Napoli
- RB Leipzig
- Villarreal
- Shakhtar Donetsk
- Galatasaray
Pot Four:
- Bodo/Glimt
- LASK Linz
- Sabah
- Slavia Prague
- Stuttgart
- Como
- Lens
Pot Three or Four teams to be determined:
- Fenerbahce or Lyon
- Dinamo Zagreb or Viking
- Slovan Bratislava or Celje
- Levski Sofia or AEK Athens
It all sets up an interesting few possible opponents for Liverpool and Iraola, in his first taste of Champions League soccer with the Reds.
