The second part of John Aldridge's ECHO column looks ahead to tonight's Champions League clash with Villarreal

The revamped Champions League allows managers to rest and rotate more than they were previously able to for their domestic leagues.

And having made a really strong start to their European campaign, Andoni Iraola might just be able to look ahead to some resting of crucial names if Liverpool do the business against Villarreal on Tuesday night.

Victories against Atletico Madrid and LASK have put the Reds in a strong early position and another win against the La Liga side at Anfield will surely mean Iraola can start looking at using more of his squad going forwards.

You look at the home games after this one - Porto and Lens - and you would think Liverpool should have too much for both of those at Anfield. So Tuesday's game is massively important to take the pressure off the coming weeks as the fixtures stack up.

I must admit, it's totally different now watching the Premier League and the Champions League. Teams don't come here and look to sit in with a 4-5-1 or a 4-6-0, European teams will look to have a real go.

I tend to enjoy the European games more as a result and you look at the Atletico game from last month, it was a really open match with two good sides going at it.

But having put LASK to the sword in Austria, this game against Villarreal is ideal for taking another big step towards qualification. It doesn't really matter where you qualify as long as you are in the top eight, after all.

Look at the first year they changed the format, Liverpool finished top and still ended with Paris Saint-Germain, who went and won the Champions League outright. It's all about qualifying now, not where you are inside that top eight.

You look at some of the players who could maybe benefit from a rest here and there as the fixtures pile up and if Liverpool are in a strong position after the Villarreal game then Iraola will surely take the opportunity to do that.

I think the manager is smart enough to know, like he did against LASK, that strengthening his side's hand in the Champions League gives him the chance to keep the big guns in reserve for the Premier League games.

The injuries are piling up for the squad now so any chance to give a few, like Virgil van Dijk in particular, a night off then it will be ideal for Iraola.