Liverpool handed huge opportunity in top four race, Klopp can have no excuse if he doesn't capitalise on it

Liverpool have been handed a huge opportunity to claim a Champions League spot at the end of the season.

The Reds have endured a woeful campaign so far. Having chased the quadruple for most of last season, this term Jurgen Klopp’s side are already out of both domestic cup competitions while their Champions League hopes are hanging by a thread.

Indeed, last week Liverpool were beaten 5-2 by reigning champions Real Madrid at Anfield in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, all but dashing the Reds’ hopes of progressing to the next round of the competition.

Meanwhile, the club’s Premier League form has been just as dismal. Despite a mini-revival in February that saw Klopp’s men claim two crucial back-to-back wins against Everton and Newcastle, they are still some distance from the top four spots.

Liverpool are currently sixth in the table, some six points adrift of Tottenham Hotspur in the final Champions League spot.

Liverpool’s huge Champions League opportunity

Despite their poor form, Liverpool’s ambitions of qualifying for next year's Champions League have been given a boost.

Indeed, the Reds are set for an extended break later this month after Fulham advanced to the FA Cup quarter-final.

FA Cup quarter-final matches take place on the weekend of March 17, and as a result, Liverpool’s game against the Cottagers, scheduled for Saturday 18 March, has been postponed.

In turn, Klopp’s side will have a 17-day break between games due to the international break, which is scheduled at the end of March.

Liverpool travel to Real Madrid for the second leg of the Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday, March 15, hoping to overturn a three-goal deficit.

But then the Merseyside club are not in action until Saturday, April 1, when they face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Of course, the couple of days extra training or time off for the players to recover, could prove pivotal for Liverpool’s Champions League hopes come May.