Why Are Liverpool Not in Friday's Champions League Draw? | OneFootball

Liverpool are not one of the 16 teams in the Champions League draw unfolding on Jan. 31.

The Champions League league phase ended with a chaotic day of 18 matches to determine the final standings ahead of the knockout stage. Liverpool suffered their first Champions League defeat of the season during all the madness, falling to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

Arne Slot's squad was missing its key players, though, including Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk. The Liverpool boss opted to keep his superstars at home since Liverpool already guaranteed themselves a spot in the knockout stage.

Now, Liverpool await their next opponents in Europe's top competition, but they will not find out during the upcoming Champions League draw.

Why Are Liverpool Not in the Champions League Draw 2025?

Liverpool are not in the Champions League draw on Jan. 31 because the Reds automatically qualified for the round of 16. Since Slot's men finished atop the league phase standings, they do not have to participate in the knockout phase playoffs, and are therefore not in the draw.

Instead, Liverpool get to sit back and watch the 16 teams that finished ninth through 24th play their two-legged ties in February. The eight teams that come out on top will join Liverpool, Barcelona and more in the round of 16.

Then, Liverpool will be included in the round of 16 draw on Feb. 21 to find out which team they will face in the knockout stage. As a seeded team in the top eight, the Reds are guaranteed to play their second leg of the round of 16 at Anfield.