Liverpool will learn their Champions League group stage opponents on Thursday ahead of their campaign to regain the title of European champions after last season’s disappointment on the continent.
Having clinched their sixth European Cup in 2019 in the form of the final victory over Tottenham, Jurgen Klopp’s side could only make the last-16 last season as Atletico Madrid put paid to their title defence, although their domestic triumph in the Premier League ensures that they will receive as close to a favourable draw as you can achieve in the Champions League.
Liverpool are ranked among the top seeds in pot one, meaning they cannot be drawn against the other champions across Europe’s top six leagues, which includes recently-crowned Champions League winners Bayern Munich, who appear to be the team to avoid this season.
But across the remaining pots, there are tricky ties to be avoided, with pot three looking particularly tricky given the presence of last season’s semi-finalists RB Leipzig and the Italian duo of Inter Milan and Atalanta.
Furthermore, there is the issue of coronavirus restrictions to factor in, meaning that this season’s group stage is likely to be a disrupted one that could pose complications that the competition has never seen before, with Uefa prepared to move games to neutral territories if necessary.
Who could Liverpool face in their best-case and worst-case scenarios?
Pot two: Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Borussia Dortmund, Ajax
Pot three: Dynamo Kyiv, Red Bull Salzburg, RB Leipzig, Inter Milan, Olympiacos, Lazio, Krasnodar, Atalanta
Pot four: Lokomotiv Moscow, Marseille, Club Brugge, Borussia Monchengladbach, Istanbul Basaksehir, Rennes, Ferencvaros
Best-case scenario
Ajax, Krasnodar, Ferencvaros
Worst-case scenario
Liverpool, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Marseille
