Liverpool’s Champions League path has become clearer after dramatic plot twist

Liverpool don’t return to Champions League action until next month, but their potential pathway through the knockout stages has become a little clearer over the past 24 hours.

While the Reds managed to avoid the knockout play-off round by virtue of finishing third in the league phase, 16 other clubs are negotiating that tricky hurdle this week and next, with four of the eight first-leg matches played on Tuesday.

Arne Slot and co would’ve been paying particular attention to the meeting of Galatasaray and Juventus, with the winners of that tie having a 50% chance of facing the Premier League champions in the round of 16 (along with either Atletico Madrid or Club Brugge).

Even with the second leg still to come, it already seems highly likely that Liverpool could be handed a second Champions League trip to Istanbul this season, following a rollercoaster chain of events at Rams Park yesterday evening.

Galatasaray have more than one foot in Champions League last 16

Galatasaray struck first through Gabriel Sara before a Teun Koopmeiners double nudged Juventus in front by half-time. Noa Lang equalised shortly after the interval, and then came a major plot twist.

Davinson Sanchez completed the latest tunaround on the hour mark before Juan Cabal was sent off for the Bianconeri, and that proved to be a game-changing moment as the home side rammed in two more goals courtesy of Lang and Sacha Boey, completing an emphatic 5-2 victory (BBC Sport).

Could Liverpool be handed Champions League revenge mission?

Liverpool fans know better than anyone that a three-goal deficit can be overcome in the second leg of a Champions League knockout tie, but it’d require a remarkable plot twist next week for Juventus to advance to the round of 16.

A first competitive meeting against the Serie A giants since 2005 now seems highly unlikely for the Reds, whereas a second visit to Rams Park in six months has become increasingly plausible.

If that is indeed the draw that we’re handed at the end of February, Slot’s team will go to Istanbul on a revenge mission after our 1-0 defeat to Okan Buruk’s side in the league phase earlier this season.

Liverpool will also be keeping a close watch on the Atletico-Club Brugge tie over the coming days, with that pairing throwing up another potential reunion with a previous opponent from this campaign – we defeated Diego Simeone’s men 3-2 at Anfield back in September.

Whoever it is that the Reds will face in the round of 16, the first leg will mark a third consecutive away fixture for us after a quickfire double header against Wolves at Molineux in the Premier League and FA Cup in the first week of March.

By the end of next month, hopefully we can look forward to a first Champions League quarter-final since 2022. It might take on even greater importance if qualification via domestic means becomes less likely by then.

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