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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Ian Doyle

Liverpool discover three more potential Champions League opponents as final pots emerge

Liverpool have discovered three more teams they could face in the Champions League group stage.

The draw for the 32-team first phase takes place in the Turkish city of Istanbul - which hosts the final at the Ataturk Stadium where the Reds won the trophy in 2005 - on Thursday, August 25 at 4pm UK time.

Jurgen Klopp's side, who reached the final last season, already know they are seeded in Pot 2 as one of 26 teams to have automatically qualified for the group stage.

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The remaining six places are decided via the play-offs through one of two routes - four from the Champions Path, which contains only league winners not to have been given a direct berth to the group stage, and two from the League Path, which is for clubs who finished in lower positions in their respective leagues.

And three of the play-off ties have now been completed. Benfica beat Dynamo Kiev 3-0 to secure a 5-0 aggregate triumph, while Viktoria Plzen won 2-1 against Qarabag to progress by the same scoreline.

The real drama, though, was at Red Star Belgrade, who conceded a last-minute own goal to draw 2-2 with Maccabi Haifi and go out 5-4 on aggregate.

On Wednesday, PSV Eindhoven entertain Rangers after a 2-2 draw in the first leg, Dinamo Zagreb are at home to Bodo/Glimt looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit while FC Copenhagen travel to Trabzonspor having won the initial match 2-1.

All six qualifiers will be potential opponents for Liverpool in the group stage, with the return games completed the day before the group stage draw.

The Reds already know they will be drawn alongside one of the top seeds in Pot 1, with Real Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto or Ajax potential opponents. They cannot face Premier League rivals Manchester City.

And they will also not face any of the other teams in Pot 2, which is completed by Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, RB Leipzig and Tottenham Hotspur.

Pot 3 has now been confirmed, consisting of Borussia Dortmund, Red Bull Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan, Napoli, Sporting Lisbon, Bayer Leverkusen and Benfica. Marseille, Club Bruges and Celtic are the other automatic qualifiers.

Pot 1:

Real Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt, Manchester City, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto, Ajax.

Pot 2:

Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, RB Leipzig, Tottenham Hotspur.

Pot 3:

Borussia Dortmund, Red Bull Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan, Napoli, Sporting Lisbon, Bayer Leverkusen, Benfica.

Pot 4:

Marseille, Club Bruges, Celtic, Viktoria Plzen, Maccabi Haifi plus three other teams.

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