Liverpool will face their first Champions League game of the 2024/25 season on 17th September but what awaits the Reds in the continent’s top club competition? Speaking on the ‘The Rest is Football’ podcast, Gary Lineker believed Liverpool were handed the toughest draw out of the four English teams competing.
The former England striker makes a fair point too, as the draw was not a particularly kind one to Arne Slot and his players. Liverpool face a fairly challenging selection of eight matches in a league format, four played at home and four away. This is a change from the now ‘old’ Champions League group stage system, that used to see clubs play three different sides, facing them both home and away.
Let us take a closer look at the eight teams Liverpool will be facing in the ‘league phase’ of this year’s Champions League. Remember that each result goes on a league table featuring all 36 competing sides, rather than Liverpool being part of a separate nine-club table.
AC Milan – 17th Sept, 2024 (Away)
AC Milan is a name almost every Liverpool fan is familiar with given the incredible Champions League final of 2005, where the Reds produced one of football’s greatest-ever comebacks. The pair have met more recently though, in the 2021/22 Champions League to be precise.
Liverpool won both the group stages clashes that year, and even managed to do so at the San Siro despite making eight changes to the starting line-up. Slot will not be thinking about doing similar here though as Milan are a very useful side on their day and were the second-best outfit in Italy last year.
Bologna – 2nd Oct, 2024 (Home)
Liverpool’s second Champions League test sees them take on another Italian team, but one much less widely recognised. I Rossoblù were last involved in this competition in the 1964/65 season, back when it was known as the European Cup. Even then they were eliminated in the preliminary round so it is fair to say they have very little experience at this level.
They impressed on their way to a shock fifth-place Serie A finish last season, something they had not managed since 1971, but the summer has not been kind to them. Not only did they lose their manager, Thiago Motta, to Juventus, but they also ended up selling top goalscorer, Joshua Zirkzee, to Man United and star defender, Riccardo Calafiori, to Arsenal. Time will tell just how much this weakens the Italians.
Leipzig – 23rd Oct, 2024 (Away)
Leipzig are an extremely young club – only 15 years old – but they are not strangers to Liverpool. The two met in the knockout stages of the 2020/21 Champions League in a two-legged affair played behind closed doors due to the global health restrictions.
Leipzig will be hoping to put up more of a fight this time though as they lost that battle 4-0 on aggregate. Although they finished fourth in the Bundesliga last season, their total of 65 points is only two fewer than their all-time best record. Additionally, they are spearheaded by an always-improving Lois Openda, who managed 24 league goals last season, so he could be a real threat to the Liverpool backline.
Bayer Leverkusen – 5th Nov, 2024 (Home)
The visit of Bayer Leverkusen means the return of Xabi Alonso to Anfield. The former Reds’ midfielder enjoyed five years at the club before making the move to Real Madrid. As a manager, he created history last season by guiding Leverkusen to their first-ever Bundesliga title, ending Bayern’s long period of dominance in the process.
During a truly incredible season, full of late winners and equalisers, the Germans only lost one match – this being the Europa League final. Having sold no key players in the summer transfer window, while also bolstering the squad, Leverkusen could prove to be a formidable opponent on Merseyside.
Real Madrid – 27th Nov, 2024 (Home)
One of the most highly anticipated ‘league phase’ clashes sees Liverpool host reigning champions Real Madrid. Last time the Spanish giants made their way to Anfield, they stunned Jürgen Klopp’s men during a 5-2 victory, which put the Reds on the brink of Champions League elimination. Liverpool would no doubt love revenge for this 2022/23 defeat but Madrid are among the most intimidating of foes. Now spearheaded by Kylian Mbappé, the La Liga champions begin the Champions League as 4/1 second favourites to win the competition for a third time in four years.
Girona – 10th Dec, 2024 (Away)
You can be forgiven if you know very little about Girona as they have only played four full seasons in La Liga and prior to last year their best finish was 10th. What you may know is that they are part (47%) owned by the City Football Group, the holding company that owns 100% of Manchester City.
Without this, it is difficult to imagine this historically small club, with its 14,624-capacity stadium, reaching the Champions League for the first time in its history. Now here though, the Blanquivermells are a team to keep an eye on as they play some excellent, slick football. It takes a very impressive side to finish third in La Liga – just four points behind Barcelona – so do not write them off despite their small stature.
Lille – 21st Jan, 2025 (Home)
Lille’s recent meetings with English opponents have not gone too well for them. Knocked out of the Champions League in 2021/22 by Chelsea, they then faced elimination via a penalty shootout when playing Aston Villa in last year’s Europa Conference League. Les Dogues finished fourth in Ligue 1 but their total of 59 points is not something that will intimidate Liverpool too much. Additionally, they are also without Leny Yoro, who made it into Ligue 1’s Team of the Year, as he was sold to Manchester United. Without him present, the French side will likely not be as solid defensively as they were last season.
PSV – 29th Jan, 2025 (Away)
Liverpool’s final league-phase game will see them face a side Slot is very familiar with already, Dutch outfit, PSV. The Eindhoven-based club beat Slot’s Feyenoord to the league title, enjoying a comfortable seven-point margin. Slot did manage to win one of last season’s four meetings with PSV, this coming in the KNVB Cup, but this time he has the benefit of a much stronger squad at his disposal. This year’s Eredivisie favourites showed some real ability in last year’s Champions League as they finished second in a tough group, so they are not to be dismissed, but they will be clear underdogs for this clash.