Arne Slot’s Liverpool continued their flawless Champions League run with a 2-1 win over French side Lille on Tuesday evening, but finishing top of the standings could be detrimental to their aspirations of reaching the final and subsequently winning silverware in the Dutchman’s maiden campaign.
The Reds, who are also flying domestically in the Premier League, are the only team in Europe’s top table to have not lost a game, having outclassed the likes of Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig in the lead-up to their encounter with Lille.
A singular point from their test against PSV Eindhoven next week will confirm the Merseysiders’ status as league phase leaders which, in theory, should give them a much easier opponent in the Champions League knockout round draw.
However, considering the results of Matchday 7, there is every possibility that finishing top of the standings could force the Anfield outfit to face one of Europe’s top sides in the next round – including the likes of Juventus, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
This is the first year of the European-themed restructure and fans are still getting to grips with how qualification from the league phase works and although the draw for the knockout stage is set to take place on January 31 after each team has played all eight league phase games, the format is already common knowledge.
According to UEFA, the two teams that finish first and second at the conclusion of the league phase, which is set to draw to a close next week after all final fixtures are played, will face one of the teams residing between 15th and 18th position in the table.
Fellow Premier League side Manchester Citywere also in the mix for 18th place after taking a 2-0 lead against Paris Saint-Germain, but their shock capitulation at the Parc des Princes means they now sit 25th in the table – outside the qualification spots and in serious danger of being eliminated from the competition.
Liverpool’s Potential Round of 16 Opponents
As things stand, as alluded to earlier, Liverpool are poised to finish in either second or first place, and so they are likely to face one of Bayern Munich, Celtic, Real Madrid – who are record winners of Europe’s top tier competition – or Juventus.
In the latest round of fixtures, Vincent Kompany’s side fell at the hands of a 3-0 loss to Slot’s former side, Feyenoord, while Celtic oversaw a narrow 1-0 win over Young Boys. For Los Blancos, a team Liverpool beat 2-0 in late November, stormed to a routine 5-1 victory over RB Salzburg.
All four sides currently boast 12 points after a mixed bag of results in the competition and, as a result, the complexity of the table could still change following one last round of games which are set to be played out next week.
