Liverpool will not play in Europe again until the last 16 in March, having guaranteed their spot in the Europa League knockout stages.
Football analysts Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards all agreed that Liverpool was the clear favorite to win the Europa League in a recent episode of the Rest is Football podcast. This week’s UEFA competitions came to an end, and the full list of teams moving on to the Europa League knockout stage was made public.
Even though Liverpool had already secured Group E, their penultimate group game was meaningless, but the 2-1 loss to Union SG did not make the experts lose hope. Due to Jürgen Klopp’s selection of a less seasoned squad for this game, the team’s record in the competition is somewhat tarnished, with four wins and two losses thus far.
Lineker started a discussion about how English teams advance to the next round in the podcast, which you can listen to here. “Liverpool look strong with the squad they have, with the experience that they have,” Shearer added in response. Liverpool will undoubtedly be among the favorites and believe they can win it all the way.”
Richards agreed, saying Liverpool are serious candidates because of their caliber and the possibility of adding players in the January transfer window. As a lighthearted way to end the conversation, Lineker declared, “Well, that’s the Europa League sorted— Liverpool are going to win it.”
Liverpool won the group and will automatically advance to the round of 16. This gives it the opportunity to avoid the two-leg play-off round and take on possible Champions League opponents instead. Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen, who are still unbeaten in the league, as well as Atalanta, Brighton, Rangers, Slavia Praha, Villarreal, and West Ham are among the other teams benefiting from this privilege.
Teams that finished second in the Europa League are SC Freiburg, Marseille, Qarabag, Rennes, AS Roma, Sparta Praha, Sporting CP, and Toulouse; these teams advance to the play-offs. Teams from the third-place positions in the Champions League, including Benfica, Braga, Feyenoord, Galatasaray, RC Lens, Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Young Boys, will also be competing in the play-offs.
