The pressure is on Arne Slot to lead the Reds back to European glory in his first Champions League campaign in charge of Liverpool.
After nine years, Jürgen Klopp said goodbye to Anfield at the end of the 2023–24 season. Under the German boss, Liverpool celebrated its first Premier League title in three decades and its sixth Champions League trophy.
Of course, there were setbacks during Klopp’s tenure as well, including a brief stint back in the Europa League last season. Still, the manager rose to the occasion and coached his battered squad to a third-place Premier League finish, earning Liverpool’s spot back in the Champions League ahead of Slot’s arrival in England.
Now, not only is the former Feyenoord manager expected to have Liverpool competing in the Premier League alongside Manchester City and Arsenal, but he also must spearhead the Reds’ return to the Champions League.
The new league phase draw determined Liverpool’s first eight opponents in Europe’s most prestigious competition. The Reds will host Bologna, Bayer Leverkusen. Real Madrid and Lille, and travel to AC Milan, RB Leipzig, Girona and PSV.
Slot’s first major tests as Liverpool’s manager will come against Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen. The reigning Champions League winner eliminated Liverpool in four of its last six Champions League campaigns, including two final losses in 2018 and 2022.
Bayer Leverkusen, meanwhile, is coming off a historic, invincible Bundesliga-winning season in which it enjoyed a 51-game unbeaten streak across all competitions. The club’s European resume might not be as impressive as Liverpool’s, but with Xabi Alonso at the helm the German side look more than capable of making a statement in its 2024–25 Champions League campaign.
Even if the Reds stumble in a few of their big matches, Liverpool will secure a knockout berth as long as it finds success against the mid-tier teams in its schedule, including a struggling Milan team and a Girona side without Artem Dovbyk and Savinho.
As Slot gears up for Liverpool’s upcoming Champions League run, he must draw inspiration from the club’s previous victories and look past his own shortcomings in Europe. The 45-year-old led Feyenoord to the 2022 Europa Conference League final, but otherwise the Dutchman found little success in the Champions League and Europa League.
For the first time in his career, though, the manager has a squad capable of thriving on one of soccer’s biggest stages. After all, the key pieces of Liverpool’s Champions League-winning squad from 2019 are still with the club, including Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson and Mohamed Salah.
Now, it will be up to Slot to coach Liverpool back to the top of Europe.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Previewing Arne Slot’s First Liverpool Campaign in the Champions League.
