Steve McManaman has said Liverpool’s Champions League group stage draw is ‘possibly the most difficult’ of the British teams - and picked their clashes with Rangers as fixtures to look forward to.
Jurgen Klopp’s side learned of their group stages opponents on Thursday night after the draw in Istanbul - the host city of the final and the first in Turkey since the famous night in 2005. They will face Dutch champions Ajax as well as Napoli and Rangers in Group A.
Reds fans will have been relieved to avoid the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain from the top-seeded pot and will meet a regular European opponent in the Italian outfit Napoli. But a meeting with Giovanni van Bronckhorst's Rangers will be the first between the two in European competition - and McManaman has backed the clash between the two British outfits as the pick of a ‘difficult’ group stage campaign.
READ MORE: Champions League draw LIVE - Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea discover group stage opponents
READ MORE: Champions League draw in full as Liverpool face Rangers in Group A
“Liverpool’s draw is possibly the most difficult of the British teams,” McManaman told BT Sport. “They played against Ajax and Napoli in recent years. Tough places to go but they’re not the teams they once were.
“Ajax have sold a lot of their key players but Liverpool v Rangers stands out. It’s brilliant, I’m really looking forward to it. Sometimes you need something to catch your imagination and I think all the British teams have got away with a difficult one, but it’s great to see Liverpool and Rangers - of course Liverpool fans will be happy going up to Glasgow.”
Liverpool’s Premier League rivals also enjoyed favourable draws, with Manchester City up against Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund and FC Copenhagen. Chelsea were placed in Group E alongside AC Milan, RB Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb while Tottenham drew Eintracht Frankfurt, Sporting Lisbon and Marseille.
The opening gameweek will take place on September 6 and 7.
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