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.Which pot are Liverpool in for the Champions League draw?Liverpool 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.Liverpool were knocked out by Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals of last season’s Champions LeagueAFP/GettyTo draw Inter would see Liverpool reunited with Curtis Jones who left Merseyside to join the Nerazzurri this summer.Moving on, pot 2 opponents could include Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting CP, Porto, Club Brugge, Real Betis and PSV Eindhoven.Pot 3 features Feyenoord, Lille, Bodo/Glimt, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Galatasaray, Shakhtar Donetsk - who will play their European matches at Stamford Bridge this season - and Fenerbahce/Lyon.The teams in pot 4 are not yet finalised, but the teams set in stone are Slavia Prague, Stuttgart, LASK, Como, Lens and Sabah. They will be joined by Slovan Bratislava/Celje, Dinamo Zagreb/Viking and Levski Sofia/AEK Athens.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