Arne Slot’s Liverpool extended their perfect Champions League record with a 2-1 victory over French side Lille on Tuesday evening. However, securing the top spot in the standings could hinder their chances of reaching the final and claiming silverware in Slot’s debut season.
The Reds, who are also excelling in the Premier League, remain the only unbeaten team in the Champions League, having dominated heavyweights like Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, and RB Leipzig before facing Lille.
A single point in their upcoming clash with PSV Eindhoven will guarantee Liverpool finishes as league phase leaders, theoretically granting them a more favorable draw in the knockout rounds.
Yet, results from Matchday 7 suggest that finishing at the top could backfire, potentially pitting Liverpool against one of Europe’s elite teams—such as Juventus, Real Madrid, or Bayern Munich—in the next round.
This season marks the debut of a revamped European competition structure, and while fans are still adapting to the new qualification format, the knockout stage draw will take place on January 31 after all eight league phase matches conclude. According to UEFA, the top two teams in the league phase will face opponents ranked between 15th and 18th.
Meanwhile, Manchester City’s Champions League hopes suffered a blow. Despite leading Paris Saint-Germain 2-0, their dramatic collapse at the Parc des Princes has dropped them to 25th in the standings, leaving them outside the qualification zone and at serious risk of elimination.
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