Liverpool potential next Champions League opponents confirmed as nightmare draw emerges

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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot(Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

The Champions League qualifiers are locked in.

And Liverpool will today discover the start of the road they will hope ends with a seventh European Cup being lifted in Budapest next May.

The draw for the league stage of the Champions League takes place in Monaco at 6pm with Arne Slot's side.



who finished top of the table last season, hoping to improve on their run to the round of 16 last season.

With 29 teams having qualified automatically, the final seven places were confirmed this week with the second legs of the play-off round.

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On Wednesday evening, Qarabag lost 3-2 at home to Robbie Keane's Ferencvaros but won through 5-4 on aggregate, Benfica saw off Fenerbahce 1-0, Bruges destroyed Rangers 6-0 for a 9-1 overall success and FC Copenhagen beat Basel 2-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate..

The previous night, Celtic - managed by former Reds boss Brendan Rodgers - were dumped out on penalties in Kazakhstan by unfancied FC Kairat after two goalless draws.

Pafos of Cyprus completed a shock by scoring in the 89th minute to earn a 1-1 home draw and a 2-1 aggregate success against Red Star Belgrade.

And while losing 2-1 at Sturm Graz, Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt eased through 6-2 on aggregate.

As with last season, a total of 36 teams will make up the initial league stage.

Each will play eight games against different opposition, with four at home and four away.

Clubs from the same country cannot face each other and can play a maximum of two clubs from another country, with the draw for the fixtures split into teams playing two opponents from each of the four pots, which are determined by UEFA coefficient - the record of each club in European competition over the last five years.

With the qualifiers now known, the make-up of the pots has been confirmed.

Liverpool were already in pot one where they are joined by English rivals Manchester City and Chelsea, Spanish duo Real Madrid and Barcelona, German teams Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, and this season's finalists Paris Saint-Germain and Inter.

Pot two sees Arsenal, Spanish duo Atletico Madrid and Villarreal, German sides Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt, Italian pair Atalanta and Juventus along with Benfica and Club Brugge.

The third pot includes Tottenham Hotspur, Dutch sides PSV Eindhoven and Ajax, Napoli of Italy, Sporting Lisbon of Portugal, Greek side Olympiakos, Slavia Prague from Czechia, French outfit Marseille and Bodo/Glimt.

And the fourth pot has Newcastle United, Monaco of France, Galatasaray from Turkey, Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise, Athletic Bilbao of Spain and play-off qualifiers Pafos, FC Kairat, Qarabag and FC Copenhagen.

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It means Liverpool could conceivably face Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, Napoli, PSV Eindhoven, Galatasaray and Athletic Bilbao in what would be a nightmare schedule for the opening stage.

Alternatively, they could be drawn to play Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Benfica/Fenerbahce, Club Brugge/Rangers, Slavia Prague, Bodo/Glimt, Pafos and FC Kairat.

The top eight teams in the league stage automatically qualify for the round of 16, with those placed 9th to 24th taking part in a two-legged play-off to reach the knockout stages.