GROUP OF DEATH! ANALYSING LIVERPOOL’S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP

Liverpool found out their group for this season’s Champions League and the balls came out hard for the Reds. In what is the ‘group of death’, Liverpool have been drawn with Spanish champions Atletico Madrid, seven time Champions League winners AC Milan, and Portuguese giants FC Porto. It really couldn’t have gone any worse with Liverpool being paired with the toughest team in Pot 4.

Jurgen Klopp’s men will still fancy their chances of course, but they’ll have to be at their very best every single game, home and away, to seal qualification by either winning the group or finishing second. Every single tie has an underlying story that adds extra fuel to what should be an exciting clash. Liverpool have previous with each of Atletico Madrid, Porto and Milan.

Atletico Madrid

The most recent clash with any of the trio comes in the form of Atletico Madrid, who knocked Liverpool out of the competition in the 2019/20 season. Fans will remember the tie for backup goalkeeper Adrian making an unforced error in extra time to swing the pendulum back in Atleti’s favour after the team had overturned a 1-0 deficit from the first leg.

This match up offers a chance to right that particular defeat. That night marked the last time full crowds would be seen at Anfield for over a year, till this past Saturday when Burnley came to town. The defeat hurt so much because Liverpool had run away with the league title that season and were serious favourites for the Champions League as well.

That the tie swung on the error of the backup goalkeeper stung too, as many believed Liverpool would have progressed had Alisson been in goal. Another home and away clash against the now Spanish champions could be just what is needed to heal the wounds from two years ago. It also has the sideshow of another return for Luis Suarez after his last return ended in boos and a corner being taken quickly.

Liverpool’s record against Atleti isn’t the best though, we’ve met them 6 times in European Competition – only winning once (in 2010 Europa League – we still lost the tie overall over 2 legs). In the Champions League, Atleti are unbeaten against Liverpool (W2 D2), with both draws coming in their two only games in the group stage (2008-09).

FC Porto

The Portuguese side must be sick of the sight of Liverpool. The Merseysiders thrashed Porto in the Round of 16 of the 2017/18 edition of the competition, on their way to the final. A 5-0 win at the Estadio do Dragao saw Sadio Mané hit a hat trick before a goalless stalemate in the second leg. The two sides were then paired against each other the following season.

This time it was in the quarter finals, and again Liverpool ran riot, winning 6-1 on aggregate, 2-0 at Anfield, before a 4-1 win in Portugal. In fact, the two sides have met six times in the competition, with Liverpool winning four and drawing two. They will seek to extend that unbeaten run when they face off again this season. A return for Marko Grujic will also be a nice little side story.

The three times Liverpool have been drawn against Porto, they’ve reached the final twice and been knocked out in the semis on the other occasion. They are something of a good omen for the club. Here’s to hoping this will be another good run in the Champions League for the boys in red. The Portuguese under Sérgio Conceição are a serious outfit though and will be looking for their own dose of revenge.

AC Milan

The most romantic tie of the group comes in the form of the seven time champions. The Italians make a return to the premier club competition after a seven year abscence. Interestingly, their last appearance in the competition saw them knocked out by Atletico Madrid. Beside that though, the game everyone will be reminded off is Istanbul, May 2005, 3-0 down at halftime. You know the rest.

A final Reds would rather forget, was in Athens two years after the Istanbul triumph. Milan exacted their revenge with two goals from their legendary striker Inzaghi, seeing them win the trophy for the last of their seven triumphs. Between Liverpool and Milan is a whopping thirteen Champions League titles. This will be a match up of European royalty.

It is fantastic to have Milan back after such a long hiatus and with talents like the enigmatic Zlatan Ibrahimovic, new signing Olivier Giroud, Franck Kessie, Theo Hernandez and others, they’ll be hoping to make their mark. Jurgen Klopp’s men will not have it all their own way in this tie, but they will relish their visit to the iconic San Siro stadium.

The other groups also present some tasty match ups including PSG and Manchester City. Here is the full draw:

Group A:

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Manchester City
🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain
🇩🇪 RB Leipzig
🇧🇪 Club Brugge


Group B:

🇪🇸 Atletico Madrid
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Liverpool
🇵🇹 FC Porto
🇮🇹 AC Milan


Group C:

🇵🇹 Sporting CP
🇩🇪 Borussia Dortmund
🇳🇱 Ajax
🇹🇷 Beşiktaş


Group D:

🇮🇹 Inter
🇪🇸 Real Madrid
🇺🇦 Shakhtar
🇲🇩 Sheriff


Group E:

🇩🇪 Bayern
🇪🇸 Barcelona
🇵🇹 Benfica
🇺🇦 Dynamo Kyiv


Group F:

🇪🇸 Villarreal
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Manchester United
🇮🇹 Atalanta
🇨🇭 BSC Young Boys


Group G:

🇫🇷 Lille
🇪🇸 Sevilla
🇦🇹 Salzburg
🇩🇪 Wolfsburg

Group H:

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Chelsea
🇮🇹 Juventus
🇷🇺 Zenit
🇸🇪 Malmö

What do you think about the draw and where do you see Liverpool finishing in their group? Comment below.