Liverpool are set to make history when they host Bologna in the Champions League.
The Reds welcome Serie A’s surprise package from last season to Anfield on Wednesday, looking to follow-up on Saturday’s hard-fought 2-1 victory away to Wolves in the Premier League. A fortnight ago, Arne Slot’s side beat Italian giants AC Milan 3-1 to kick-off the Champions League’s new format with a win and it’s the combination of both of their opening two fixtures which is historic.
No team has ever started their Champions League campaign with back-to-back matches against opposition from the same country, but on Wednesday, Liverpool will become the first club to do so. That’s due to the new format introduced by UEFA this season, getting rid of the traditional group stage which involved groups of four teams who all had to be from different countries.
Liverpool will soon have faced two teams from Italy and it’s a pattern which the Reds will follow for most of the eight-game league phase. Slot and co will go on to face two teams from Germany – RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen – before playing against two sides from Spain – Real Madrid and Girona – and finally Lille of France and PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands.
UEFA’s only rule regarding the arrangement of fixtures was that teams couldn’t play sides from Pot 1 in their first and second games or their seventh and eighth. Liverpool could therefore have requested to face opponents from the same nation on successive matchdays, perhaps helping Slot’s team adapt to particular styles of play from foreign leagues.
The Reds won’t care much for records come full-time, though, as all that matters will be the result. Bologna were stripped of most of their best assets over the summer, including manager Thiago Motta, striker Joshua Zirkzee and defender Riccardo Calafiori.