With the start of the Champions League in its new format, Liverpool topped the league phase, demonstrating the strength of Arne Slot’s new team on the European stage.Both also confirmed their place in the round of 16.
The draw for the tournament for the last eight was made, but luck of the draw did not smile on Liverpool.
They were set to face either Paris Saint-Germain or Benfica, but after the draw, Liverpool were drawn against the French leaders, while Barcelona were set to play a Portuguese club.
For Liverpool, the tournament table is also a difficult one to get ahead of. Even if they make it through, their next opponents are likely to be Aston Villa, with Real Madrid and Arsenal next in line.
For the English side, too, all the teams are now locked in and the opportunity to go head-to-head in the final is gone.
Following the draw, Merseyside’s Dutch captain prefaced the results of the draw by saying that there will be no easy opponents in the upcoming fixtures and that he will do his best to face the French powerhouse clubs and is eagerly awaiting the challenge.
“At this stage of the competition, the quality of opponent is only going to be of a very high standard and in PSG we have drawn a team and a club with real European pedigree.”
“They qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League in style earlier this week with a big win against Brest and they had some really good results in the league phase, defeating Stuttgart, Manchester City, Girona, and Salzburg.”
“As is the case with ourselves, PSG are top of their domestic league and are enjoying a long unbeaten run. This tells us all that we need to know about the challenge that we will face but it is also a challenge that we will look forward to, knowing that we also fully deserve to be in the last 16.”
“Of course, our immediate focus is on our upcoming Premier League fixtures, starting with Manchester City on Sunday, but we will be doing everything we can to ensure that we are in the best possible shape when the Champions League resumes.”