Liverpool’s next opponents will be revealed at the Champions League round of 16 draw in February; the play-offs’ conclusion comes first. Thursday night’s opening leg between potential rivals Brest and Paris Saint-Germain gave the Reds a crucial hint for the following round.
Arne Slot’s European triumph has contributed to his glittering start at Anfield. Along with the other 35 participating teams, Liverpool was introduced to a new system. Seven victories from eight league phase games guaranteed them a spot in the round of 16 and the top seed in the competition.
This month’s Premier League title race also meant avoiding a two-leg play-off, something rivals Manchester City were not granted. When they were drawn against Champions League holders Real Madrid, they were great examples of the perils of missing out on the top eight.
Finishing first and as runners-up in the league phase, the Reds and Barcelona were instructed by UEFA they are competent to drawing up to four teams that have been put into the play-offs. The two French teams competing in a two-leg match were Brest and Paris Saint-Germain, and AS Monaco and Benfica are in another.
The former match began Tuesday night in Guingamp, in northwestern France. It gave Luis Enrique’s PSG a decisive 3-0 victory.
A penalty kick from Vitinha and a goal from Ousmane Dembele just before halftime gave the 2020 Champions League finals a two-goal lead. VAR declared offside, denying Desire Doue and PSG another goal, but Dembele quickly added the third. Next Wednesday, February 19, is the date of the second leg at PSG’s Parc des Princes, but the visitors have an enormous task before of them: defeating a side by four goals, which they have never done by any scoreline in their 36-year history of head-to-head matches.
By that criterion, PSG would be the most formidable opponent Liverpool might play in the round of 16, given their 15th place league result. Monaco and Benfica came in 15th and 16th, respectively, with Brest coming in 18th.
With 16 goals in his last ten games, French winger Dembele is playing at his best, and Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, whom Anfield executives had long admired before he moved to Paris for £59 million in January, made his first appearance for the team in Europe against Brest.
Slot and company will also be watching the Monaco vs. Benfica match in the upcoming week. On Friday, February 21st, a round of 16 draw will take place once both matches are over and the teams have been reduced by half.
Since the draw might determine Liverpool’s whole path to the May 31 final in Munich, Germany, all play-off results should be of importance.
