Brendan Rodgers targeting Champions League glory with Liverpool

The Reds return to Europe's elite club competition
for the first time in five years next season in pot
three of the draw, making a tough group assignment
likely
Brendan Rodgers expects Liverpool to be tough to
beat in the Champions League next season as he
looks to turn them into a leading club in Europe.
The Reds boss was rewarded with a new long-
term contract on Monday after leading the Anfield
club back to the Champions League with a
second-place finish in the Premier League, ending
a five-year absence from Europe's premier club
competition.
Liverpool narrowly missed out on the league title
to Manchester City, with a home defeat against
Chelsea and a dramatic collapse in a 3-3 draw
with Crystal Palace in the penultimate game of the
season effectively ending their hopes of winning a
first English top-flight crown for 24 years.
Rodgers is eager to atone for that near-miss and
win the Premier League next season, but also has
high hopes for the Merseyside club's Champions
League campaign.
Liverpool have won the competition five times but
are expected to enter the group stage in pot three,
meaning that they will likely face a difficult
assignment to qualify for the last 16.
But Rodgers is hopeful that the legendary Anfield
atmosphere in continental clashes will have an
impact on their fortunes.
"We're into the Champions League. Our dream and
goal is to win the Premier League," Rodgers told
the club's official website.
"That's what we want to do. We've shown this
season that we can compete for that. With some
new additions in the summer, we believe that we
can fight again.
"The objective for me was to try to get Liverpool
established again as one of the leading clubs in
European and domestic football and we're on
course for that.
"I've seen the games before and I've been
fortunate enough to have been at Anfield on a
Champions League occasion and they are truly
special occasions.
"You see the support the players get. Throughout
my time here, in the big games, the supporters
really show how passionate they are and they
show why they are the great set of supporters that
they are.
"We'll really look forward to it. We know that, in
the Champions League, if we can perform well
away from home, that in the home games, we're
going to be hard to beat because of the supporters
and the quality of the team."