After scraping past Standard Liege in the Champions League qualifier last night at Anfield, Liverpool have been paired in a tough group, and will face Dutch side PSV Eindhoven, along with Marseille and Atletico Madrid in group D.
The Reds last faced PSV at the quarter final stages in 2007 when they ran out 4-0 victors on aggregate. While they met Marseille in the group last year which saw them travel to France requiring a win and running out 4-0 victors to progress to the knockout stages.
And the meeting with Atletico Madrid will mean a return for Fernando Torres to the club he captained as a teenager, and Luis Garcia will make an emotional return to Anfield. Atletico are a strong side, having finished fourth in La Liga last season.
The positive from the three opposing sides is that there will be little travelling involved, with Spain, Holland and France all short flights away.
Full draw:
Group A: CHELSEA, AS Roma, Bordeaux, Cluj Napoca
Group B: Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, Panathinaikos, Anorthosis
Group C: Barcelona, Sporting Libson, FC Basel, Shakhtar
Group D: LIVERPOOL, PSV, Marseille, Atletico Madrid
Group E: MAN UTD, Villarreal, CELTIC, Aalborg
Group F: Lyon, Bayern Munich, Steaua Bucharest, Fiorentina
Group G: ARSENAL, FC Porto, Fenerbahce, Dinamo Kiev
Group H: Real Madrid, Juventus, Zenit, Bate
Liverpool’s Group D Fixtures
September 16 v Marseille (a)
October 1 v PSV Eindhoven (h)
October 22 v Atletico Madrid (a)
November 4 v Atletico Madrid (h)
November 26 v Marseille (h)
December 9 v PSV Eindhoven (a)
Rick Parry Reaction to draw:
“We know all of them pretty well, for different reasons it’s not easy, but they’re all fairly close by so there are no long trips,” Parry told Sky Sports News.
“There are no easy ties when you look down the groups so you take it as it comes.”
It is the second season in succession that Liverpool will tackle Marseille with both sides winning one game against each other last year.
“Yes, there are different circumstances with Marseille… we beat them away, but lost at home – We know them well. We’ve played PSV a few times, Atletico we know for different reasons (from buying Fernando Torres).
“We’re just delighted to be in it.”
“With our Spanish contingent the Atletico fixtures will be important games. If there was one club from pot four you wanted to avoid it would be Atletico.
