After finishing top of the Champions League's league phase, Liverpool should theoretically be in a prime position to win the competition. Friday's draw will not only reveal their next opponent in the round of 16 but also their pathway to the final in May.

As part of Arne Slot's barnstorming start to life on Merseyside, he masterminded a first-place finish in the Champions League's revamped opening phase. That included seven wins - the highlights being home triumphs over Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen, plus away to AC Milan - with the only defeat occurring with a rotated squad at PSV Eindhoven once automatic qualification was a given.

The reward was skipping the play-off round, something Manchester City fell foul to with elimination confirmed from their tie against Real Madrid this week. Now Liverpool, as part of the 16 clubs left standing, will discover the course of the knockout stages in the upcoming draw.

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On Friday, February 21 at 11am GMT the knockout draw is scheduled to take place. There are different compartments to the draw itself as UEFA embark on a slightly updated format for an inaugural time.

From seeding based on the league phase's conclusion, the Reds already knew they were paired with runners-up Barcelona and that they could face either one of the play-off qualifiers that finished 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th in the standings. Those teams were Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, AS Monaco or Brest.

Competing in the play-offs against one another, Benfica advanced to the last-16 by eliminating Monaco before PSG joined them by knocking out Brest. So, the first order of Friday's draw is to determine whether Liverpool will play Benfica or PSG.

Depending on who they draw will have repercussions on the rest of the roadmap to the final Munich. For example, playing and beating PSG on the 'silver' side of the bracket will earn a meeting with Club Brugge, Lille or Aston Villa in the quarter-finals.

Advancing beyond that stage could mean a semi-final against Real Madrid or PSV Eindhoven, but only on this side of the draw, amongst other strong rivals.

On the other 'blue' side of the bracket, beating Benfica presents a quarter-final against one of Borussia Dortmund, Lille or Villa. Amongst the selection of possible semi-final opponents only on this route are Bayern Munich and Slot's former club Feyenoord.

The only guarantee at this stage is that Barcelona can only be met in the final due to their top seeding alongside Liverpool.

Because they finished with the higher seed, the Reds know that they will play their round of 16 away leg first so that they can have home advantage in the second leg.

This does not apply for the quarter-finals or semi-finals, so the rest of Friday's draw will be spent determining the home and away legs of the rest of the knockouts. As teams are designated one side or the other for the knockouts, no draw is needed for the final at the neutral Allianz Arena.