Manchester United’s loss to Villarreal on Wednesday night might not be good news for Liverpool.
The Red Devils lost 11-10 to the Spanish side on penalties, after the match ended 1-1 after 120 minutes.
The group stages for the 2021/2022 Champions League begin in August, and Pot 1 features the highest-ranked clubs in each of the best European leagues: Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Lille and Sporting Lisbon.
By winning the Europa League final, Villarreal joined this pot.
As a result of the defeat in Gdansk, United are in Pot 2, alongside Liverpool, PSG, Barcelona, Juventus, Real Madrid and Sevilla.
There is now only one place left in Pot 2, meaning Borussia Dortmund could drop into Pot 3 and become Liverpool’s opponents in the group stage.
The result in the Champions League final will determine once and for all what the group stages will look like come August.
Manchester City face Chelsea on Saturday, and if Pep Guardiola’s men win, Chelsea will be the eighth team in Pot 2, meaning Dortmund will drop into Pot 3.
