Liverpool will take a step closer to learning its Champions League last 16 opponents on Friday when the draw for playoffs takes place.

The conclusion of the league phase of the Champions League on Wednesday meant the final standings were confirmed and the knockout rounds came into sharp focus.

The draw for the Champions League playoff round takes place at 11:00 GMT (06:00 ET) on Friday.



As usual it will be held at UEFA's headquarters in Nyom and will be conducted in a more familiar style than the Champions League knockout phase, when the fixtures were collated by a computer.

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The playoff phase will be a case of pairing one side placed 9th-16th against a team who finished 17th-24th in the league phase?

That’s when the top eight from the league phase will be reintroduced to the competition with a draw taking place on 21 February to determine who each club will play.

The top eight will be paired with a playoff winner and Liverpool can only face one of two clubs, with Barcelona - who finished second in the league phase - to be paired against the other side (two of PSG, Benfica, Monaco, or Brest).

At that stage, Liverpool will know which side of the draw it will be on and will be able to plot its possible path to the final, knowing which clubs it could face en route to Munich

The top eight from the league phase are: Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, Aston Villa.

The last 16 matches will be played over 4/5 & 11/12 March and as a seeded team, Liverpool will play the second leg at home.


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