Liverpool News

The Champions League draw to determine Liverpool's opponent

Liverpool finished at the top of the Champions League group stage standings

By Martin Fernandez

Liverpool finished at the top of the Champions League group stage standings
Liverpool finished at the top of the Champions League group stage standings
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UEFA Champions League 2024/25: New Format and Upcoming Draws

The UEFA Champions League 2024/25 has introduced the most significant format changes in over two decades, revolutionising both the group stage and knockout rounds of Europe’s top club competition, as well as the way knockout stage draws are conducted. The top eight teams automatically advance to the Round of 16 as seeded teams. It is confirmed that these teams are Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atlético Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, and Aston Villa.

Teams finishing between 9th and 24th enter the knockout playoffs, with positions 9-16 being seeded against positions 17-24.

This new structure creates the potential for intriguing matchups, as evidenced by Manchester City (22nd), who could face Real Madrid or Bayern Munich (11th/12th). The system ensures that the highest-ranked teams do not meet until later stages. For example:

Liverpool and Barcelona (1st and 2nd) won’t face each other until the final.

Arsenal and Inter Milan (3rd and 4th) can only face Liverpool or Barcelona in the semifinals.

When is the Champions League Draw?

The draw for the knockout playoffs will take place on January 31, 2025, at 11:00 AM GMT in Nyon, Switzerland. Of course, Liverpool will not participate in this draw due to their top-eight finish.

The Round of 16 draw will follow on February 21 (in which Liverpool is involved), after the playoffs conclude and the 16 teams from the playoffs are reduced to eight.

The new knockout format means that Liverpool, who topped the group stage, will face one of the four potential rivals in the Round of 16.

The system pairs the top two teams with those finishing between 15th and 18th place.

This means Liverpool’s possible opponents will come from two playoff matchups: PSG (15th), Benfica (16th), AS Monaco (17th), and Brest (18th).

These playoff games will determine which team advances to face Liverpool, and the draw on Friday will reveal the Reds’ likely path. The structure ensures that top-performing teams from the group stage are rewarded with theoretically more favourable matchups in the knockout rounds.

On paper, the most challenging potential opponent for Liverpool would be PSG, who finished 15th despite their star-studded squad. They defeated Manchester City 4-2 on their way to qualification for the Round of 16.

Monaco has already shown their quality in the competition this season, having defeated Barcelona 2-1 in the first game of the group stage. However, their 17th-place finish suggests overall struggles in the competition.

The French team Brest, making their Champions League debut this season, finished 18th and would theoretically be the most favourable draw for Liverpool. They have already suffered a 3-0 defeat to Barcelona in this campaign.

Liverpool will have the advantage of playing the second leg at Anfield, regardless of who they face.


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