No Thiago, Alexander-Arnold and Alisson in Real Madrid and Liverpool combined XI

Liverpool face Real Madrid for the first time since losing the Champions League final to the Spanish giants back in 2018, though Jurgen Klopp has stressed this is not a revenge mission. With Sergio Ramos unfortunately ruled out of both matches, we will not get to see his personal duel with Mohamed Salah continue.

In fact, we won't even see any of either side's first-choice centre-back pairings on display. Imagine saying at the start of the season these two sides would meet in the Champions League knockout stage and Eder Militao and Nacho and Nathaniel Phillips and Ozan Kabak would be starting at centre-back for Madrid and Liverpool, respectively.

As a result the defence in our Madrid and Liverpool combined XI is certainly unusual. Phillips doesn't necessary have a long-term future at Liverpool but he hasn't put a foot wrong since stepping in, while Kabak hasn't made enough appearances to qualify for our XI. Having spent most of the season at centre-back Fabinho qualifies for the position here but will line up in central midfield against Madrid.

Neither Andrew Robertson nor Trent Alexander-Arnold have found the consistency of last season this time around and it's proved costly with both missing out on the XI. Lucas Vazquez has been something of a revelation at right-back for Madrid this season and gets in alongside Ferland Mendy on the opposite flank.

Liverpool have rarely been able to call upon their strongest midfield this season and that has impacted the performances of those out there. Thiago is finally starting to find his range but after a stuttering start he misses out. Madrid's midfield is the strongest part of their squad. Even with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos getting on, they still hold it down for Zinedine Zidane's side, while Casemiro is developing into much more of a defensive midfielder, with a constant stream of key contributions in attack of late.

Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane may well have both ended up at Madrid had the pandemic not ripped through the club's finances and the Liverpool pairing flank Karim Benzema in our XI. Benzema has really flourished since Cristiano Ronaldo's departure, even more so as big money signing Eden Hazard continues to flounder. Benzema has scored in nine straight appearances heading into Tuesday's game and needs one more against Liverpool to become the most successful scorer against the Reds in European history outright.