Arne Slot's Liverpool may have won the 2024/25 Premier League at a canter in the Dutchman's maiden season after replacing Jurgen Klopp – but their best football of the current campaign has been witnessed in the Champions League. What is their run to the Budapest-based final looking like?
Things have not been too rosy for the Reds this term, with them sat in sixth (outside the Champions League spots) at the time of writing and securing top four credentials will be Slot and his entourage's primary objective between now and May, when the season ends.
In the Champions League, though, the six-time winners of the competition have found their rhythm amid testing times. Come the end of the league phase, they've finished third in the table, thus securing automatic progression into the knockout rounds, after winning six of their eight matches.
Liverpool's Potential Route to the 2025/26 Champions League Final
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Liverpool, England's most successful team in the history of the Champions League/European Cup, kickstarted their campaign with a 3-2 victory over Atletico Madrid before overseeing a narrow 1-0 defeat to Victor Osimhen-led Galatasaray in late September. They bounced back terrifically with a 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt and beating Real Madrid 1-0.
Things looked shaky in their 4-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven on 26 September – but Slot's men then went on to win all three of their remaining league phase matches (against Inter Milan, Marseille and Qarabag) without conceding a single goal.
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Liverpool, behind Arsenal and Bayern Munich, finished third as a result of their above-average form on the continental stage, meaning that they have automatically qualified for the Round of 16. No playoff tie awaits the Merseysiders and there are a number of sides who they could face in the lead-up to the final.
Until a potential final in Budapest, Slot and his men could lock horns with one of Juventus, Atletico (who they faced and beat in the league phase), Club Brugge or Galatasaray – but that all depends on who wins their playoff encounters.
The quarter-finals, should they get through, could see them lock horns with some of the toughest sides in Europe – including Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, who are the reigning champions of Europe.
Hansi Flick-managed Barca would also cause plenty of headaches for Slot, who is widely regarded as one of the best managers in world football, because of their frightening frontline, including the likes of Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski. Newcastle United and Chelsea, two sides from England, could also be their quarter-final opponents.
In terms of the semi-finals, Liverpool could butt heads with a raft of clubs – and that includes the likes of domestic rivals Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Sporting CP and Manchester City (all seeded clubs), while they could also face one of Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan or Real Madrid if they progress from the playoffs.
Interestingly, Liverpool and Thomas Frank's Tottenham Hotspur, who, similar to the Reds, are struggling on the domestic stage but thriving in Europe, have the same potential draw after finishing third and fourth respectively. The next time they can meet in the Champions League will be at the Puskas Arena in the final.
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Experienced at Europe's top table, Liverpool last won the competition under the guidance of former boss Klopp in 2018/19 and to put it simply: Liverpool certainly have the talent to win the Champions League this time around. Of course, that's not to say they've performed to their best this term – but Liverpool's deep experience in Europe leans in their favour.
With a Premier League title run seemingly out of their grasp, it would be wise for Liverpool to put all their proverbial eggs in the Champions League basket and that could easily result in success in Hungary.
It's not always the case that the world's best team reign victorious in the final and Liverpool will certainly be hoping that'll be the case later in 2026. Things will need to be fine-tuned between now and then, but with Florian Wirtz showing the odd glimpse of his Bayer Leverkusen form and Alexander Isak's return nearing closer, who knows what could happen?