Andoni Iraola takes on his good friend and former team-mate Inigo Perez in the Champions League on Tuesday night

Andoni Iraola admits that but for the rejection of a work permit, Villarreal boss Inigo Perez might be in the home dugout at Anfield this evening.

Perez, a former Athletic Bilbao team-mate of Iraola's, brings his team to Merseyside to take on the Reds, who have won two from two in the Champions League this season and are favourites to extend their perfect record against their La Liga opponents.

At 38, Perez is six years Iraola's junior, and was around the first team squad at Athletic for five years alongside the Reds boss between 2009 and 2014.

He then served as Iraola's assistant boss at Rayo Vallecano for the 2022-23 season, but was unable to join his fellow Basque when he made the move to Bournemouth in 2023 because he failed to get a work permit.

Iraola worked closely with Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper at Bournemouth, and subsequently brought them to Liverpool when he joined the Reds in the summer.

He admits Perez was his initial choice though, and is wary of the challenges his friend's side will pose at Anfield.

When asked by Amazon Prime Video if Perez would be with him at Liverpool if things were different, Iraola said: "Yes, I certainly think so.

"At Bournemouth, he didn’t have the required experience or the required number of years as an assistant to prove he was good enough to work here in the Premier League.

"I remember there was a panel, too. I remember making videos, calling a lot of famous players and trying to convince the panel that he was good enough to be the assistant, but sadly, it didn’t work. But that happens in football.

"When you are good, you are good, and he’s now coaching in the Champions League, so he’s certainly proved he was good enough, not just to be an assistant but to coach here."

Iraola sees similarities between himself and Perez and how both moved into coaching, adding: "He has always understood the game well.

"Players like him and me weren’t big athletes, so we had to do everything well on the pitch and make all the right decisions. This is the starting point for a lot of coaches, and in this case, I think it’s quite similar."