And here the teams come. James Milner captains Liverpool tonight in Jordan Henderson's absence.

Liverpool XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Milner, Jota, Salah, Gakpo, Nunez.

Real Madrid XI: Courtois, Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Nacho Camavinga, Modric, Kroos, Valverde, Vinicius, Benzema.

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Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger was part of the Chelsea team which almost pulled off a shock last year in the quarter-finals against his current club.

"[Liverpool] have a good attacking team. They played against a big rival and scored seven so that tells me they rise up to big occasion and we need to be aware of that," said Rudiger.

"But like my former coach [Thomas Tuchel] said when we played against Real Madrid, everyone knows Real Madrid are a very good counter-attacking team with Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr and their abilities.

"When you play against Real Madrid, you play against the badge and they always prove people right, that this badge is something bigger."

Liverpool

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp speaking to BT Sport: "We have a saying in German - if you have a problem, find an offensive solution.

"We have midfield players on the bench but they haven't play for a long time now. Cody Gakpo has rhythm and Diogo Jota is a player who can make a difference.

"It would be helpful [to score the first goal] because each goal Real Madrid scores make the hill even higher.

"The biggest thing we have to do is to defend, you cannot just attack and hope they don't score. We need a super performance. If we can do that it is good, if not Madrid go through.

"James Milner brings a lot of things, mentality obviously, but we needed a defensive oriented midfield with all our attacking options."

Will it be a good night for these guys?

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Or a busy one for this guy?

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The draw for the Champions League quarter-finals takes place at 11:00 GMT on Friday, alongside other European competitions.

Chelsea and Manchester City are already through to the last eight but Tottenham were eliminated by AC Milan.

Arsenal and Manchester United are still in the Europa League, while West Ham are well placed to make the last eight of the Europa Conference League.

The draws for the semi-finals of all three tournaments will also take place on Friday in Nyon, Switzerland.

There will be no seeding in any of the draws and teams from the same country could play each other.

Bobbie Jackson
BBC Sport reporter

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Liverpool's hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League are hanging by a thread.

They head to the Bernabeu needing to overturn a three-goal deficit - something only achieved on three previous occasions in the competition.

But the Reds do have previous for unlikely Champions League fightbacks.

We revisit some of the greatest comebacks in Champions League history.

Read more here.

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Police have recovered stolen goods including an Africa Cup of Nations runners-up medal and arrested two men following a burglary at the Cairo home of Mohamed Salah.

Egypt's Ministry of Interior said a former security guard at the residential complex was one of those arrested over the alleged break-in.

Goods stolen in the burglary earlier this month included football boots.

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Fabinho says Liverpool will use their 2019 Champions League win over Barcelona to give them hope.

Jurgen Klopp's side overturned a 3-0 first-leg defeat to reach the final four years ago.

"I think it is important to have this mindset for a game like this because we have nothing to lose," said Fabinho.

"I think everyone expects Real Madrid to win the game and to go to the quarter-finals and this can be good for us.

"We go with the responsibility to wear the Liverpool shirt and to try to play our best football."

Fifa has shown a "complete disregard" for the football community with its World Cup and Club World Cup plans, said a La Liga statement.

Football's world governing body said the 2026 World Cup will feature 104 games, up from 64, and unveiled plans for a 32-team Club World Cup.

"Fifa continues its malpractice of making unilateral decisions on the world football calendar," said the La Liga statement, adding it will go to the World Leagues Forum (WLF) before taking the "appropriate next steps".

Representatives of players union Fifpro and the Professional Footballers Association have also criticised Fifa's plans.

Read more here.

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Carlo Ancelotti was full of praise for midfielder Eduardo Camavinga and Brazilian winger Vinicius Jr.

"[Camavinga is] hugely important for us, he's doing a great job, some brilliant performances," said Ancelotti.

"He makes mistakes but the way he's been playing really makes up for any errors.

[Vinicius is] on the right track to make history at Real Madrid in the coming years, just like Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Karim Benzema and Casemiro already have.

"This whole group has been unbelievable, especially in the Champions League."

Charlie Adam
Former Blackpool midfielder on BBC Radio 5 Live

With that attacking forward line of Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota, Liverpool can cause Real Madrid problems.

But they will have to get the ball off Real Madrid because we know they will dominate.

Aged 24 years and 159 days, Trent Alexander-Arnold is the youngest English player to reach 50 Champions League starts, overtaking Wayne Rooney (24y 325d).

James Milner is the oldest English starter (37 years and 70 days) in a Champions League match since David Beckham (37 years, 335 days).

Emlyn Begley
BBC Sport reporter

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Victor Osimhen has become the envy of Europe's top clubs with his blockbuster performances for Napoli this season, and says his dream is to play in the Premier League - so could that happen and what would he bring?

Napoli have been one of the surprise packages of this season - and sit 18 points clear at the top of Serie A as well as being on the brink of the Champions League quarter-finals.

So what now for a man who idolised Chelsea legend Didier Drogba and rejected the chance to join Arsenal?

Read more here.

Charlie Adam
Former Blackpool midfielder on BBC Radio 5 Live

Unless Real Madrid score the first goal then the tie is not done. Liverpool can comeback, there have been comebacks before but it is a tough game. If it was Anfield I would expect them to have more pressure than playing but I expect Real Madrid to go through.

Dion Dublin
Former England striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

I believe there is a little door ajar for Liverpool. It’s a very, very tight door that they have to kick open against Real.

The last game I saw them play was against Manchester United and I thought ‘wow’. If they can perform like that again, they may have a sniff.

The only thing about this tie is it’s Real Madrid. If it was anybody else, I would give Liverpool more of a chance.

I do believe there is still a small chance if they can hit the heights they did against United performance-wise.

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Ian Kennedy, BBC Radio Merseyside

A huge task for Liverpool tonight in the Bernabeu - although history tells us we should never write a Jurgen Klopp team off. A bit different away from home of course, but never say never when it comes to Liverpool. Carlo Ancelotti will be well aware of that.

After the first leg at Anfield, it seemed the only way back into the Champions League was to finish in the top four, and yet had they won at Bournemouth, they would have briefly reached their target. But Bournemouth had other ideas, and it wasn’t the result we were expecting, especially after the way Liverpool played against Manchester United. The gap is now six points, even though the Reds still have a game in hand on Tottenham.

So there's a massive challenge ahead both in the Premier League and in Madrid tonight. If Liverpool score early it could be interesting and they won’t be overawed by the atmosphere that’s for sure - they’ve seen it all before. Liverpool are quite capable of winning the game, but whether they can win by three to level it up is another question.

Don’t be surprised if they make a game of it!

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Liverpool's form this season has been very inconsistent so it's hard to predict what could happen tonight.

The Reds led 2-0 in the first leg against Real Madrid at Anfield before going on to lose 5-2.

After that game, they beat rivals Manchester United 7-0 in the Premier League, only to lose 1-0 at relegation-battling Bournemouth after.

The up and down results leave them sixth in the league table, having suffered seven of their eight top-flight defeats away from home.

"If we can surprise ourselves in a negative way, we should be able to surprise ourselves in a positive way as well," said Jurgen Klopp.

"But it's clear, we're not here telling Madrid, 'be careful, we're coming' - that's not the situation we are in."