The Perils of the Champions League for LFC

Reds fans will be hoping to see nights like this again from this season

Like peering into a club that you are banned from by the bouncer, Reds fans in recent years have had to watch the draw for the Champions League from afar, with their beloved club absent from Europe’s premier cup competition.

However, finally, after five long years, August 28th 2014 is a date that Liverpool can pencil into their calendar, for they have qualified for the group stages of the Champions League.

Therefore we can all look forward to the possibility of Luis Figo describing his career in what seems like a lifetime’s preview to the draw, before guessing which one of the small white and black cups has Liverpool’s name on it.

After a long wait, Liverpool are back in Nyon again.

However, their return to the Champions League is likely to be far trickier than in previous qualifications. Due to Liverpool’s declining success in Europe in the last five years, the Reds will enter as third seeds into the draw.

Under the tutelage of Rafael Benitez, Liverpool were regularly a top seed and ironically in 2009, the last time the Reds competed in the Champions League, they were ranked as the second best team in Europe, behind Barcelona, their highest position in the modern era.

Therefore, as third seeds, Liverpool could be entertaining two superpowers in their group. Conversely, Brendan Rodgers may feel fortunate if his side only draw two tough sides, given the quality of the fourth seeds this year. The likes of the wealthy AS Monaco and the runners-up in Italy, AS Roma lurk incomprehensibly at the bottom of the pile.

The top seeds (assuming the likes of Arsenal make it through the qualifiers) are the usual superpowers that rule Europe’s top table.

Reigning European Champions Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, Benfica and FC Porto are the likely headline acts. Of these, Benfica and FC Porto look the weakest sides, which perhaps emphasises the quality on show.

For too long, LFC have looked on as outsiders

The second seeds are not too shabby either. The names include Manchester City, who in recent years have endured torrid groups due to their low seeding. Yet reaching the knockout stage last year, combined with the likes of AC Milan not qualifying this season, means that they are promoted to second seeds. However, Liverpool cannot be drawn against fellow English clubs until the quarter-finals.

German giants Borussia Dortmund, runners-up in 2013, Schalke, Shakhtar, FC Basel and Zenit St Petersburg are other likely second seeds. However, along with Dortmund, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain are the major superpower threats that can turn any group into the so called ‘Group of Death’.

FC Basel and Schalke would surely be the preferred teams to draw here, given the travelling involved for Zenit and Shakhtar and the sheer quality of the rest.

As third seeds, Liverpool cannot be drawn against teams of the same rank. Furthermore, with many of the qualifiers still to be completed, the list of the remaining teams is far from clear.

However, likely third seeds include Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon, runners-up to Benfica in their domestic league, Olympiacos, Rafael Benitez’s Napoli, Ajax (with four European Cups to their name) and Wesley Sneijder’s Galatasaray.

Add Liverpool to that list and it is a mightily impressive line up for third seeds.

Finally, as mentioned, the fourth seeds look particularly strong this year with Roma and Monaco amongst them. However, they are not the only teams that the big boys will want to avoid.

French side Lille continue to overachieve despite losing their big names in recent years, such as Eden Hazard, Yohan Cabaye and Florian Thauvin. Meanwhile, Turkish giants Fenerbache beat Galatasaray to the domestic league last season and the fierce Turkish support always makes it a difficult place to go.

Liverpool will be hoping to rekindle the magic of 2005

The remaining fourth seeds change regularly each year with the qualifiers, but the likes of Celtic and Steaua Bucharest will be the teams to draw when finishing off the group.

Returning to the Champions League was never going to be a seamless stroll for Liverpool. Nonetheless, even if the draw is horrid, the aim should still be to make the last 16 and escape the group, before seeing what happens from there.

Finishing second entertains the possibility of running into another foreign giant, as Arsenal have discovered in recent years, but at least the Reds would be back where they belong – in the knockout stages of the biggest club competition in the world.

In addition, Liverpool would boost their chances of a higher seeding should they qualify again in 2015.

August 28th will be a great day as it truly marks Liverpool’s return to the Champions League. Lets hope we have a good draw to go alongside it!

FC Porto, FC Basel and Steaua Bucharest would be my ideal draw, while Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and AS Roma would be my draw from hell.

What would be your perfect and hellish draw? Comment below!

And obviously expect Manchester United to get an easy draw like every year…