Which teams could Liverpool face in 2026/27 Champions League as Reds finally clinch qualification | OneFootball

It took until the concluding day of the Premier League season, but Liverpool can finally look forward to Champions League football in 2026/27.

The Reds needed just a point from their fixture against Brentford on Sunday to confirm qualification for Europe’s premier club competition and they duly got it, although Bournemouth’s failure to beat Nottingham Forest meant that we’d have qualified even had we lost to the Bees yesterday.

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It preserves a tremendously consistent record of playing in the tournament for the ninth time in 10 years, missing out only in 2023/24, even if we needed the lifeline of England earning one of the two allocated European Performance Spots to avoid dropping into the Europa League instead.

As of Sunday night, all 29 automatic berths for next season’s Champions League have been filled, with the remaining seven teams to emerge from the qualification rounds over the summer.

Liverpool set to be in Pot 1 for Champions League draw

It means the precise seeding pots for the 2026/27 league phase have yet to be finalised, but with those determined by UEFA’s club coefficient, we can say with near-certainty that Liverpool will once again be in Pot 1.

That’s because the Reds sit fourth in the overall coefficient, with this being the last year that their run to the 2022 Champions League final is classified (therefore, reaching the quarter-finals this term was a timely boost).

As it stands, the four seeding pots will be allocated as below, with the caveat that seven more clubs have yet to be added, and some could move between pots depending on who ultimately qualifies.

*Could potentially move to Pot 4, depending on which teams come through the qualifying rounds

Being in Pot 1 doesn’t carry the same significance now as it did in the pre-2024 group stage format, when it meant avoiding the continent’s highest-ranked clubs until the knockout rounds, but it’s nonetheless a source of pride that Liverpool are the best-ranked English club at present.

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Liverpool could face some familiar foes in the Champions League

The Reds will face two teams from each pot (playing one at home and one away) and can’t be drawn against a fellow Premier League side in the league phase.

It means there’s a greater than 50% chance of once more coming up against a team they faced in the Champions League this season, with Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan and both Atletico and Real Madrid all projected to be in Pot 1, with LFC unable to face Manchester City or Arsenal.

Prospective Pot 2 opponents include memory-evoking potential clashes against Borussia Dortmund and/or Roma, as well as a possible revenge mission against a PSV Eindhoven side who won 4-1 at Anfield last November.

Pots 3 and 4 are set to be more fluid due to the uncertainty over which seven teams come through the qualifying rounds, but among the eye-catching opposition from those pots are old foes Napoli, RB Leipzig and Galatasaray (three meetings this season was enough, thanks!); along with Champions League first-timers Como, who finished above AC Milan and Juventus to claim fourth in Serie A.

We won’t know which eight clubs Liverpool will face until the draw is made in late August, but after a very bumpy 2025/26 campaign, we’re just glad that the Reds will be in the draw at all in three months’ time!