Who Liverpool FC will face in Champions League last 16

The Reds cruised to automatic progression into the knockouts of this year’s tournament without a third-place finish in the league phase, clinching their position thanks to a commanding 6-0 win over Qarabag last time out.

The Merseyside club lost just twice en route to the knockouts, meanwhile, falling away at Galatasaray on matchday two before being humbled at home by PSV Eindhoven.

Regardless, their overwhelmingly positive record thus far ensured they became one of five English sides – along with Tottenham, Manchester City, Chelsea and table-toppers Arsenal – to qualify for the last-16 without requiring a dreaded two-legged play-off, several of which have been contested over the past two weeks.

With the results of those ties now confirmed, Liverpool face a nervous wait before their next opponent is confirmed by Friday’s draw.

Having finished third in the league phase of this year’s competition, Liverpool were destined to face one of the teams who placed 13th, 14th, 19th or 20th.

Namely, those teams were Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Galatasaray.

Galatasaray knocked out the Italian giants Juventus in a thrilling tie. Despite winning 5-2 in the first leg in Istanbul, they were taken to extra time in Turin.

Juventus produced a stunning fightback, even after seeing Lloyd Kelly sent off early in the second half of normal time. But Osimhen and Burak Yilmaz settled a7-5 aggregate win in extra time.

Last week also brought an entertaining 3-3 draw between Belgian outfit Club Brugge and Atleti, but Diego Simeone’s side took full advantage of a home second leg, running out 4-1 victors.

This week’s results mean that Liverpool will face either Atletico Madrid or Galatasaray in the Champions League last-16, with Tottenham – who finished fourth in the league phase – taking on the other team.