Liverpool face nightmare Champions League draw despite securing top-two finish
Liverpool could be left rueing their high finish in this year's Champions League.
Liverpool fans might end up rueing their side’s 100 per cent record in this year’s Champions League should Arne Slot’s worst nightmare come true.
The Reds have been imperious on their return to Europe’s biggest club competition, winning all seven of their league phase matches so far.
It wasn’t particularly pretty in mid-week against Ligue 1 outfit Lile, but a deflected second-half strike from Harvey Elliot eventually saw the Anfield outfit over the line.
The result confirms Liverpool as one of the top two teams in this year’s league phase and if the six-time champions avoid defeat in their final match against PSV Eindhoven next week, they’ll progress into the knockouts as the No.1 seeded team.
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But it’s something that could prove more hassle than it’s worth for Liverpool, given their last-16 opponent is likely to be one of Europe’s elite.
It’s because, unlike previous seasons, the knockout stage for the new Champions League format is seeded based on a team’s performance in the league phase.
While Liverpool are guaranteed to avoid the play-off round, as things stand the Premier League side will play either Juventus, Celtic, Bayern Munich or reigning champions Real Madrid in the last-16.
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Their exact pathway is still to be decided and placings are expected to change during what promises to be a frantic final night of league phase action next week.
But even manager Slot has admitted the Champions League table doesn’t tell the full picture and while Liverpool are yet to drop points of any kind this year, finishing first might not be that beneficial after all.
Speaking after Tuesday night’s win over Lille, Slot said: “In tennis if you’re the No.1 seed you know it’s better to face the No.24 than the No.8 because this is the ranking that is done for years.
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“But now we’re in a new format where some teams are higher in the league table because they had a lucky draw. Or they are low because they had a very difficult draw.
“It’s far off to say it’s an advantage being No.1 or No.2, we still don’t know yet if that’s an advantage or not. You might be lucky, you might be unlucky, for me it doesn’t tell me anything.”
Liverpool continue their pursuit of a second Premier League title in five years against Ipswich Town this weekend, before travelling to Eindhoven for their final Champions League fixture on Wednesday.
