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The Champions League group stages for 2020/21 have been tied, with Liverpool joining Ajax, Atalanta and FC Midtjylland in Group D.
Last season’s Premier League winners are expected to qualify comfortably, but all of these teams will offer Jurgen Klopp’s men very different challenges.
Here we take a look at what the Reds can expect from their upcoming Champions League rivals.
Ajax
How are they performing?
Unsurprisingly, Ajax have started the Eredivisie season in top form. Like Liverpool, Erik ten Hag’s team have won their first three league games, scoring six goals and conceding just one.
Ajax, in fact, have not lost a competitive match since March, although they had a long period of inactivity due to the lockout, and the last Eredivisie season ended prematurely.
This is not the team that came close to reaching the Champions League final two seasons ago, only to be cruelly eliminated from the semi-finals by Tottenham.
Ajax failed to overcome a difficult group that included Chelsea and Valencia last year, and this time they will be tested again against Liverpool and Atalanta.
Who are its key players?
Brazilian forward Antony has started the campaign impressively, scoring two goals and seeking real perspective at just 20 years old.
Nicolás Tagliafico is a reliable and experienced left-back, although he is linked to a possible move to Manchester City before the transfer window closes on Monday.
Other familiar faces include Daley Blind and Dušan Tadić, while Quincy Promes is another fit man.
Distance to travel?
This would have been an appetizing match for Reds fans if Covid-19 hadn’t disrupted things so significantly.
A trip to Amsterdam, attractive in itself, with the added bonus of seeing Klopp’s team in one of the most impressive stadiums in Europe.
It could still happen, of course, although it seems unlikely that it will be possible to travel to other countries for quite some time unless things are drastically altered.
And Ajax is as good as European travel – just 440 miles away, a short, cheap flight, and most likely a night to remember … If that’s just for the football depends on what you’re in.
Atalanta
How are they performing?
Gian Piero Gasperini and his players are no longer a surprise package. Atalanta took Europe by storm last season, rebounding from a poor start in their group to reach the quarter-finals, where they looked set to eliminate Paris Saint-Germain.
Two late goals left Atalanta heartbroken, but it was still a year of great strides for the club. They also ran Juventus up close in Serie A, scoring an incredible 98 goals along the way.
And they have picked up where they left off in the 2020/21 campaign, beating Lazio 4-1 in their final Serie A match after starting with a 4-2 win in Torino.
As always on Gasperini’s side, the goals flow.
Who are its key players?
Josip Ilicic, when he returns to the image of the first team, it will make a big difference. He has been absent lately due to problems in his personal life and clearly lost to PSG.
Alejandro Gómez is the main man at the moment regardless. The diminutive attacking midfielder has scored three goals in two Serie A games so far and appears, even at 32, to be playing in his prime.
Robin Gosens, for his part, is a real attacking threat from the left side, an area of the pitch that Atalanta expertly exploits.
Distance to travel?
The amount of travel required will depend on whether or not Atalanta plays at the San Siro, as they did in their round of 16 tie with Valencia last season.
Either way, it’s just over 1,000 miles away, hardly the most arduous ride the Reds could have faced.
A trip to Italy shouldn’t be too strenuous for players, and would have been another draw for fans at different times.
FC Midtjylland
How are they performing?
The lowest seeds in the group and actually a team Liverpool should have no trouble beating twice.
Midtjylland have not started particularly well in the Danish Super League, winning twice and losing once, with just two goals to their name.
Brian Priske’s team is well organized and dispatched from Ludogorets, Young Boys and Slavia Prague relatively comfortably on their way to the group stage.
Who are its key players?
Midtjylland have three animated forwards, with winger Awer Mabil perhaps the most dangerous given his form last season (five goals in 16 league appearances).
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Former Celta player Pione Sisto is also at the club, while former Celta defender Erik Sviatchenko brings experience and organization to the rear.
Distance to travel?
Assuming Liverpool travel to Copehangen, this is another trip of just over 1,000 miles, and one that doesn’t take Klopp and his players to the remotest corners of the continent.
The group, from a travel perspective, is enjoyable for the Reds, although each of these matches would have been greatly improved if thousands of Liverpool fans took to the streets before kickoff.
Unfortunately, that might not be possible this year.
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