Liverpool path to Champions League final: Reds could once again face Real Madrid showdown

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·21 February 2025

Liverpool path to Champions League final: Reds could once again face Real Madrid showdown

Liverpool face tough route through knockout stages despite finishing top in league phase

Familiar foes: Real Madrid could make a swift return to Anfield

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Liverpool could once again go up against Real Madrid in the Champions League knockout stages.

Arne Slot’s side finished top of the league phase of the competition to book their place straight through to the last-16, but it has not resulted in a more generous draw as they might have hoped.

Liverpool will take on PSG in the last-16, in what is the most difficult of the two possible outcomes. The Reds could have been drawn against Benfica, which could have then led to a quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund or Lille.

PSG were the most impressive side in the play-off round of the Champions League, hammering Brest 10-0 on aggregate.

Should Liverpool beat the French side, they will face either Aston Villa or Club Brugge in the quarter-finals. The Reds would be firm favourites to beat either side, but Villa’s draw with Liverpool in the Premier League this week showed they are certainly capable of causing problems.

Victory in the quarter-finals would almost certainly earn Liverpool a blockbuster semi-final tie.

PSV, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are the four potential opponents, as Arsenal take on PSV in the last-16 and the two Madrid clubs go head-to-head.

There is the possibility therefore that Liverpool meet Real in the semi-finals, where they would be desperate for revenge. Liverpool did beat Real in November in the league phase, but they have been knocked out by the Spanish giants in each of their last three seasons in the Champions League.

If Liverpool were to get the better of Carlo Ancelotti’s side, they would surely go into the final in Munich at the end of May as favourites.

Bayern Munich will hope to be there on home soil, but Barcelona are arguably the favourites to progress through that side of the draw on current form.