Anfield, matchday, general, Champions League (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Liverpool to play Ajax, Atalanta & Midtjylland in Champions League group stage

Liverpool will take on Ajax, Atalanta and Midtjylland in Group D of the Champions League, having been drawn as top seed.

The Reds were drawn from Pot 1 having won last season’s Premier League, and therefore avoided the rest of Europe’s top-tier champions including Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Juventus.

Man United, Man City and Chelsea were also unable to be drawn from Pot 2 as no two sides from the same nation can meet in the group stage, but Liverpool still had a number of interesting possibilities ahead of Thursday’s draw.

Jurgen Klopp and his squad discovered their opponents during the ceremony in Geneva, with Ajax, Atalanta and Midtjyllan the opposition in the group stage.

Ajax were drawn from Pot 2, and are currently sat top of the Eredivisie after also winning their league in 2019/20.

From Pot 3 was Atalanta, who are a first-time opponent for Liverpool.

And finally from Pot 4 was Midtjylland, with Brian Priske’s side finishing top of the Danish Superliga last season.

LISBON, PORTUGAL - Sunday, August 23, 2020: Previous winners etched into the European Cup trophy seen before the UEFA Champions League Final between FC Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain at the Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica. (Credit: ©UEFA)

The first group games in this season’s Champions League will be played on October 20/21, with the rest to be played over October 27/28, November 3/4, November 24/25, December 1/2 and December 8/9.

Istanbul’s Ataturk Stadium will host the final on May 29, with Liverpool in the hunt for their seventh European Cup, which could be won at the ground in which they sealed their fifth.

Last season saw Liverpool exit the Champions League at the last 16 stage, after a 4-2 aggregate loss to Atletico Madrid.

They will include one of the eventual winners in this season’s squad, however, with Thiago leaving European champions Bayern for Liverpool in a £25 million deal earlier this summer.


Champions League Group Stage Draw

LISBON, PORTUGAL - Sunday, August 23, 2020: The European Cup trophy on display before the UEFA Champions League Final between FC Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain at the Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica. (Credit: ©UEFA)

Group A: Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Salzburg, Lokomotiv Moscow
Group B: Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan, Borussia Monchengladbach
Group C: Porto, Man City, Olympiakos, Marseille
Group D: Liverpool, Ajax, Atalanta, Midtjylland
Group E: Sevilla, Chelsea, Krasnodar, Rennes
Group F: Zenit St Petersburg, Borussia Dortmund, Lazio, Club Brugge
Group G: Juventus, Barcelona, Dynamo Kyiv, Ferencvaros
Group H: Paris Saint-Germain, Man United, RB Leipzig, Istanbul Basaksehir