Who will Liverpool play in Champions League last 16? Four possible opponents confirmed ahead of knockout draw

A heavily-rotated Liverpool side lost 3-2 to PSV in the Champions League on Wednesday night but the Reds still ended the league phase in first place ahead of La Liga giants Barcelona.

Barca drew 2-2 with Serie A outfit Atalanta at the Camp Nou to finish two points below the Reds. Liverpool boss Arne Slot rested a host of first-team players as he was not concerned with finishing first or second in the table with the top two grouped together when the draw is made for the latter phases of the competition.

Speaking ahead of the game, Slot said: “It took me a while to understand this new [Champions League] format. I always say when I think I’m 100 per cent sure, I use ‘99.9’ but now I can say I’m 100 per cent sure that it doesn’t matter at all if we end up one or two [in the table] because we will play 14, 15, 16, 17 and then in the end it’s a draw [for] which of the teams we are going to face. So, this is a game for us – because we are now No.1 or No.2, we cannot drop to No.3 – that has no importance of result coming to the league table.

“But a very wise man once said to me, ‘I have never seen anything good coming from losing a football game’ so we are not going into the game tomorrow trying to lose the game, we will do everything we can to try to win it, of course.”

Liverpool beaten by PSV

It was a frantic first-half in the Netherlands, with five goals scored in Eindhoven. Former PSV player Cody Gakpo opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Federico Chiesa was fouled inside the 18-yard box. Johan Bakayoko levelled for the hosts before Harvey Elliott put Liverpool back in front as he scored a rebound from Chiesa’s shot.

Two goals deep into the first half put PSV in front as Ismael Saibari levelled matters before Richardo Pepi made it 3-2 in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time. Darwin Nunez missed the game through illness despite being one of the senior players who travelled after Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson Becker, Ibrahima Konate, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Luis Diaz were all rested. Liverpool ended the game with 10 men after Amara Nallo chopped down Bakayoko when through on goal in the 87th minute.

The knockout phase play-offs - which Liverpool have avoided - will take place in mid-February with the two-legged ties to be played across February 11/12 and February 18/19. The round of 16 kicks off on March 4/5 and ends a week later.

Who will Liverpool play in the round of 16?

The teams who finish first and second will play one of the teams who placed between 15th-18th after eight league phase games. The four teams lower down the table will be whittled down to two as they battle for a spot in the last 16. Ahead of the final round of games, Liverpool were facing the prospect of playing the likes of Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the first knockout round but that is no longer the case with both of those sides moving up the standings on Wednesday night.

Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Monaco and Brest have finished 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th respectively meaning Liverpool will come up against one of those sides in March. Per UEFA, the draw for the round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final will take place at the same time and will be held on February 21. The draw for the knockout phase play-offs will be on January 31, which is this Friday. Liverpool now have an approximate idea of who they could face with the picture to become clearer after the play-off round.

In other news, a Liverpool defender is facing another prolonged period on the sidelines after suffering another serious injury.