Liverpool face tough draw in next season's Champions League – even if they pull off Premier League triumph

Brendan Rodgers could face a baptism of fire should Liverpool qualify for next
season's Champions League tournament

Luck of the draw: Brendan Rodgers, the Liverpool manager, will be hoping the balls fall his way in the draw for next season's Champions League should the club qualify for the tournamentPhoto: ACTION IMAGES

Liverpool face the daunting prospect of a Champions League group including Bayern Munich and Juventus next season, even if Brendan Rodgers’ team end the club’s 24-year wait for the league title.

The five-times European champions are languishing in 32nd position in Uefa’s coefficient table because of their failure to qualify for the Champions League since the 2009-10 season.

Manchester City, who have been forced to navigate so-called groups of death in their three seasons in the competition, will be elevated from pot three to pot two next season as a result of their progression to the knockout stages of this year’s Champions League and Manchester United’s likely absence from next year’s tournament.

But even if Liverpool secure Champions League qualification by winning the Premier League, their Uefa ranking will dictate their seeding position next season and the best they can hope for is a place in pot three.

Uefa’s club coefficient rankings are based on a team’s results over the five previous seasons of the Champions League and Europa League – with seedings generated based on a club’s position in the table.