Liverpool will have to do things the hard way if they are going to make it seven-time European Cup winners this season.
Qualification for the competition looked in doubt at times last term before an unbeaten final 10 Premier League games saw the Anfield club finish third – thanks in no small part to an Alisson Becker winner.
The Reds were eliminated by Real Madrid last season as injuries hamstrung Jurgen Klopp’s side to their very core.
There are plenty of old and recent foes on the horizon for the famous club following the group stage draw for the UEFA Champions League.
Twitter: Liverpool, Atletico Madrid, Porto and AC Milan all in the same group
https://t.co/PzYAyijhxn (@brfootball)
Likely to be dubbed the ‘group of death’ for the 2021/22 campaign, Liverpool manager Klopp knows there is a ‘tough’ task ahead.
I laughed, to be honest, pretty loud because it is a tough group obviously. It’s Champions League, so that’s how it is, and you have to play the best teams in Europe, and obviously, some of them are in our group! We played, I don’t know how often, already against Porto, so they will be waiting for us. We have obviously a little bit of (an) open bill with Atletico, and AC Milan, a historical one obviously. So, I think our supporters should be looking forward to it – we do, for sure.
Liverpool last faced Atletico Madrid at Anfield in 2020 prior to an imminent lockdown and were eliminated by the La Liga champions.
The six-time winners boast a markedly better record against FC Porto however, unbeaten in eight meetings – winning the last clash 4-1 in 2019.
History with AC Milan is rather more significant, meeting twice at the final stage of the competition, including that famous night in Istanbul.
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There certainly could’ve been more favourable draws for the Reds, but this is one the squad should still be able to successfully manoeuver.
Whilst the group boasts a remarkable 23 major European trophies all told as well as a host of domestic titles, Liverpool along with Atletico hold the more recent pedigree.
Liverpool can be confident of finishing top of the pile despite the tough assignment, albeit there look to be no games in which Klopp will be able to rest and rotate key players.
