LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 21: An image of the Champions league Trophy alongside a Liver bird during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 leg one match between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid at Anfield on February 21, 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Liverpool FC will discover their eight opponents in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League during Thursday’s draw in Monaco.
The 36 competing clubs have been split evenly into four pots based on their UEFA coefficient and will be paired with two teams from each, playing one at home and the other away.
Liverpool are in pot one and, in principle, cannot play a fellow Premier League side and more than two teams from any one country.
They also cannot draw Real Madrid at home, as the Reds have hosted Los Blancos at Anfield in the competition’s opening section for the past two campaigns. UEFA introduced a ruling that aims to avoid the same fixture occurring in the league phase for three successive years. This will be a massive disappointment to everyone who was looking forward to booing Trent Alexander-Arnold again, but in the words of The Beatles: Why don’t we do it in the road?
Pot one: Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid*, Internazionale, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid.
Pot two: Borussia Dortmund, AS Roma, Sporting CP, FC Porto, Club Brugge, Real Betis, PSV Eindhoven.
Pot three: Feyenoord, Lille, Bodo/Glimt, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Fenerbahce, Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray.
Pot four: Slavia Prague, Slovan Bratislava, VfB Stuttgart, AEK Athens, LASK, Como 1907, RC Lens, Viking, Sabah.