Who Liverpool can face in Champions League as grudge matches loom

Andoni Iraola has a fairly high bar to clear if he is to improve on last season’s performance under Arne Slot, which saw the Reds knocked out by eventual champions Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals.They flew through the league phase, too, finishing third behind Arsenal and Bayern Munich as they won six of their eight outings.Liverpool were knocked out by Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals of last season’s Champions LeagueAFP/GettyWhich pot are Liverpool in for the Champions League draw?Manchester United have been placed in Pot 1, as their current coefficient places them eighth in UEFA’s rankings for European teams.Who Liverpool can face in the Champions LeagueThe ceremony will produce eight opponents for every team, two from each pot.No team can face an opponent from their own country in the league phase, ruling out Arsenal, Manchester United, Aston Villa or Manchester City. They can only play a maximum of two sides from any association.Liverpool’s potential opponents from pot 1 are Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.To draw Inter would see Liverpool reunited with Curtis Jones who left Merseyside to join the Nerazzurri this summer.Moving on, pot two opponents could include Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting CP, Porto, Club Brugge, Real Betis and PSV Eindhoven.Pot three could turn up Feyenoord, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Galatasaray, Fenerbahce/Lyon, or Shakhtar Donetsk, who will play their European matches at Stamford Bridge this season.The teams in pot four are not yet confirmed, but those teams who are set in stone are VfB Stuttgart, Como and Lens. They will be joined by Slovan Bratislava/Celje, Levski Sofia/AEK Athens, and Hapoel Be’er Sheva/Sabah.There are a number of clubs who could still end up in pot three or four, pending the outcome of qualifying ties. They are: NEC Nijmegen/Bodo/Glimt, Dinamo Zagreb/Viking, Celtic/LASK, or Slavia Prague.Champions League league phase matchdaysThe exact make-up of each week in terms of kick-off times and match dates will be provided by UEFA.Matchday 1: September 8-10, 2026Matchday 2: October 13/14, 2026Matchday 3: October 20/21, 2026Matchday 4: November 3/4, 2026Matchday 5: November 24/25, 2026Matchday 6: December 8/9, 2026Matchday 7: January 19/20, 2026Matchday 8: January 27, 2026