With the draw for the play-off round of the Champions League on Friday, we take a look at the potential opponents that Liverpool could come up against.

Jurgen Klopp’s Red men last season finished in 4th place, meaning that they will have to go through a play-off to ensure their place in the group stage. Being seeded for the upcoming draw means that the Reds will avoid the likes of Napoli, Sevilla and Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic, should the Scottish giants beat Rosenborg to progress. Despite this seeding, Liverpool will not have an easy route through to the group stage.

There are ten teams that Liverpool could face in the play-off stage, with the most notable being CSKA Moscow, Hoffenheim, Nice and Sporting Lisbon.

CSKA are probably the toughest opponents that Liverpool could come up against, the Russian powerhouse finishing in second place in last season’s Russian Premier League. The Krasno-Sinie looking at club captain Igor Akinfeev and talisman midfielder Alan Dzagoev to lead them into the group stages. CSKA could definitely be a big stumbling block for the Red men on their journey back to the Champions League.

German club Hoffenheim are another potentially tough opposition for the playoffs, after an impressive fourth place finish in the Bundesliga, they will be looking to cement their position as one of the best German teams by progressing to the group stages of the Champions League. Norwegian midfielder Havard Nordtveit, just signed from West Ham will be hoping to impress for his new team and knocking out one of the top seeded teams in the playoffs would be a great way to do that.

If Liverpool were to face Nice in the play-off round, then it could see Mario Balotelli return to Anfield for the first time since his disastrous spell with the Reds came to an end last year. Since then the Italian has been smashing in the goals in Ligue 1, scoring 15 goals in 23 games. The French club was taken over last year by a Chinese/American consortium that has turned the fortunes of the club, overseeing a third place finish in Ligue 1 only behind the powerhouses of PSG and Monaco.

Sporting Lisbon could be considered a dark horse in the play-off round, their summer has gone under the radar but has seen a number of high quality players join the club with the likes of Fabio Coentrao and Seydou Doumbia joining on loans from Real Madrid and AS Roma respectively. The team also consists of a number of promising young players such as the highly sought after William Carvalho and reported Liverpool target Gelson Martins making a big impact for Sporting in recent times.

Last time the Reds made the group stage, they failed to get out of a group that featured Real Madrid, FC Basel and Ludogarets.

All ten teams that Liverpool could face are: AEK Athens, Club Brugge, CSKA Moscow, Hoffenheim, Istanbul BB, Nice, Sporting Lisbon, Steaua Bucharest, Viktoria Plzen, Young Boys.

 The Play-off round first leg takes place on the August 15/16 and the second leg on August 22/23.

Adam Hitchcock