Liverpool next Champions League opponents become clearer after Jose Mourinho drama

New Liverpool head coach Arne Slot will lead the Reds into a new era in the Champions League this season

Liverpool’s name is pulled out of the bowl in the Champions League draw

A new-look Liverpool will return to a revamped Champions League next month. And a swift reunion with an old friend remains very much on the cards after the latest round of qualifiers

Former Reds assistant manager Pep Lijnders has guided his Red Bull Salzburg side to the final play-off round after seeing off the spirited challenge of Dutch team FC Twente. After a 2-1 win in Austria, Lijnders’ men held out for a 3-3 draw in the return game on Tuesday night

It wasn’t such good news, though, for long-time Liverpool adversary Jose Mourinho. His Fenerbahce team scored a dramatic injury-time goal to take their second leg against French side Lille to extra time, only to then concede a penalty with four minutes of extra time remaining which was converted by Jonathan David to earn the visitors a 2-1 aggregate triumph

Scottish side Rangers are also out, losing 2-0 at home to Dynamo Kiev after a 1-1 draw in the first game. Kiev will now take on Salzburg, while Lille play Slavia Prague.

In total, there remain seven places in the group stage up for grabs. In the other play-off games, Young Boys take on Galatasaray, Dinamo Zagreb play Qarabag, Midtjylland face Slovan Bratislava, Bodo/Glimt of Norway have been drawn against Red Star Belgarde, and Malmo are up against Sparta Prague

And there is a very good chance Liverpool will face at least one of those seven teams when the draw for the league stage of the Champions League takes place in Monaco on August 29.

Instead of an initial eight groups of four, there is now just one single league table including all the teams, the total of which has been bumped up from 32 to 36. Clubs will play eight games – an increase on the current six – all of which will be against different opponents, with one home and away fixture from each of four pots of nine teams, which are ordered solely on club performance in European competition in the last five years.

Teams cannot play another from the same country, although complications with the draw mean this may not entirely be possible to avoid. The final two games of the league stage will take place in late January.

Liverpool are in pot one along with Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig and Barcelona.

Pot two is also settled, and includes Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Juventus, Benfica, Arsenal, Bruges, Shakhtar Donetsk and AC Milan.

Five of the winners from the play-offs will be put into pot three and join Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon, PSV Eindhoven and Celtic. And the other two qualifiers will go into pot four alongside Monaco, Aston Villa, Bologna, Girona, Stuttgart, Sturm Graz and Brest.