Liverpool are set to face Union SG in their final Europa League game tonight, but their qualification is already secured.
Jurgen Klopp will field a rotated side, which could feature a strong youth contingent in what is a reward for qualifying early. As a result, winning their group has allowed them to go straight into the Last 16, rather than have to play an extra two games for finishing second. And we don't have long to wait for the draw for the next round as next week (December 18) is the official date.
Joining them in the Last 16 are eight Champions League sides, all of whom finished third in their groups with several sides missing out by the slimmest of margins. Nevertheless, their focus now turns to the second-tier European competition and these eight teams could pose the biggest threats to their hopes of winning the only trophy that has eluded Klopp.
Of course, there are threats within the competition already and we will focus on them in due time, but we remain on the clubs who will drop down into the Europa League.
With the Champions League all wrapped up, here are the eight teams ranked in order of difficulty, who will join Liverpool in the knockout stages for the ties set to take place from March 14, 2024.
1. Benfica
Benfica pose an interesting, but very difficult test for Liverpool. The veteran Angel Di Maria is still pulling the strings but they have an exciting makeup of young talents that are being linked with moves away. Those include Florentino Luis, Joao Neves and Antonio Silva and there's also the attacking talent of Rafa Silva; they went toe-to-toe with Inter Milan and Real Sociedad but came up short and will now relish the test of the Europa League.
2. Galatasaray
There is a big Premier League influence on this Galatasaray side with the likes of Hakim Ziyech, Wilfried Zaha, Davinson Sanchez and Tanguy Ndombele but there's also figures such as Sacha Boey, Mauro Icardi and Dries Mertens to round-off a technically strong side. Despite boasting those names, they pass up a lot of chances.
3. Sporting Braga
The Portuguese side were beaten four times by Real Madrid and Napoli combined but they currently sit fourth in the Portuguese league, two points off Sporting. Their lack of star power is what could hold them back against Liverpool despite their strong team spirit.
4. Shakhtar
The Ukrainian side lost out three times to Barcelona (away) and Porto and went out fighting in a 5-3 defeat against the Portuguese side in their final group game. However, they did manage to frustrate Barcelona at home in a 1-0 win as well as scoring 10 goals across their six games. But, they are a side with plenty of weaknesses to exploit as far as Liverpool goes.