Liverpool handed huge Premier League title race advantage after Champions League results
Liverpool's Champions League campaign sees them dodge the knockout play-off round - but Manchester City will have to negotiate it before playing the Reds just days later
by Samuel Meade · The MirrorLiverpool's clash against Manchester City next month will come just days after Pep Guardiola's side have been involved in a huge Champions League play-off.
The group phase concluded on Wednesday night with City getting the win they needed over Club Brugge to sneak through into the knockout play-off phase. Liverpool meanwhile finished top of the pile, winning seven of their eight games, and they'll go straight into the round of 16.
Guardiola's side have been handed a challenging draw and will find out this week whether they will be facing either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
The first leg will take place on February 11 or 12 with the return game to come a week later. Days after that Liverpool head to the Etihad on February 23 for a game that could have title ramifications.
The Reds will have had the week off to prepare for the champions, whom they aim to supersede as the Premier League's elite outfit. City meanwhile may just have returned from a game in Europe such is the way the fixtures have gone.
Liverpool already hold a commanding lead, sitting six points in front of Arsenal with a game in hand still to come. City meanwhile are effectively out of the race following a poor few months that curtailed their own challenge.
If Guardiola does want to win a trophy then the Champions League is one of only two possibilities. The Manchester outfit are also in the FA Cup with the Catalan not experiencing a trophyless season since his first campaign in England back in 2016/17.
The City boss confessed they didn't deserve a fortuitous draw in Europe with three losses in the group phase forcing them to take the tough route. He said: "We deserve it. I don't know if they are happy to play against us but it is what it is. No complaints. We're going to face them - one is the king of the competition, the other is the second or third."
If the Premier League side, who conquered Europe back in 2023, can overcome Bayern or Real then they would face a last 16 clash against either Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen.
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