Liverpool legend Steve Nicol has revealed which teams he would ideally want the Reds to avoid during the Champions League Round of 16 draw on Monday.
Jurgen Klopp’s men booked their berth in the knockout stages of the Champions League at the expense of Napoli following their hard-fought win over Carlo Ancelotti’s men at Anfield on Tuesday.
The Reds did just about enough to cling on to a 1-0 lead given by Mohamed Salah as they pipped Napoli to second place from Group C, behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
Despite sneaking through the back door from arguably the toughest group in the competition this year, Liverpool are expected to face an even bigger challenge during the next round.
All of Barcelona, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Porto are in the mix to face Liverpool in a Round of 16 tie.
Nicol, who won several league titles at Anfield during his playing career, says that he is confident that Liverpool are more than capable of beating anyone on their night.
However, the former Reds defender revealed that he would ideally want to avoid Juventus and Barcelona in the next round of the competition if he had to pick a favourable draw for Liverpool.
“Juve and Barca are the only ones that I wouldn’t want [Liverpool to face in the Round of 16 stage of the Champions League”, Nicol said on ESPN FC.
“I would fancy my chances against anybody else.
“I still think they can beat Juventus and Barcelona, but out of all those teams, those are the two that I would hope to avoid.”
Liverpool will next face rivals Manchester United in the Premier League at Anfield on Sunday.
