Who Liverpool will play in Champions League last 16 after play-off draw

Liverpool topped the Champions League standings in the league phase to earn a place in the last 16 of the competition - with a potential meeting with Paris Saint-Germain awaiting them in the knockouts.

The Reds pulled off impressive victories over AC Milan, Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen as they tallied up seven wins from eight outings at the previous stage of the tournament. An away loss to PSV Eindhoven rounded out their league phase campaign after wins over Bologna, RB Leipzig, Girona and Lille.

The Merseysiders are among the favorites to challenge for glory in Europe's leading cup competition this term, having also led the Premier League standings for much of the season. Topping the previous stage in the Champions League means that Arne Slot's men have avoided having to play in the playoff round of 32 teams.

Their next clash in Europe will come in the form of an away outing on 4/5 March, with the return fixture set to take place at Anfield on 11/12 March. As the 1st placed team in the league phase, Reds were placed in a bracket with PSG, Benfica, Monaco and Brest - who finished 15th/16th/17th/18th respectively.

Having finished as runners-up in the previous round, Barcelona are also in this bracket and could well come up against Liverpool in the latter stages of the knockouts. The draw on Jan 31. revealed that Liverpool will face off against either PSG, Brest, Benfica and Monaco in the last 16 of the Champions League.

An all-French tie between PSG and Brest will take place in the playoffs, while Benfica will face Monaco as each team looks to set up a last 16 tie with either Liverpool or Barcelona. The official draw for the Last 16 will take place next month.

Former Liverpool star Thiago Alcantara was present at the draw for the playoffs in Nyon, Switzerland. His old teammates will be hoping to achieve passage to the final at Munich's Allianz Arena, which will take place on May 31.

(Image: Rene Nijhuis/MB Media/Getty Images)

What has Arne Slot said?

Reflecting on his team topping the league phase standings, Reds boss Slot said: "It's definitely a good achievement to end up top of this league. But I said many times it's hard to judge a table after eight games, let alone with the teams playing different opponents."

"It doesn't tell me much, some have faced easier opponents than others but it's always nice if there's a new format and you end up number one. But it doesn't give us any assurances for the next round, I see the four teams we can face and especially one of them is definitely one you are hoping not to face if you end up first in a group like this."

As for his team's 3-2 loss against PSV, Slot added: "At the end it didn't have any effect on the table of the competition and what it meant for the next round. I saw some good things, I saw goals conceded that I'd like to see us do better but I'm sure it's the same for PSV the way they gave goals away.

"But it's football. It's good to see some players who didn't make 90 minutes in a long time make an impression today. I'm not going away with a bad feeling but I think it's a shame that we lost."

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