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Liverpool and Barcelona will be sitting comfortably while watching the Champions League round of 16 draw this Friday.

Friday’s draw not only reveals Liverpool’s immediate opponents but also outlines a potential path to the final, influenced by strategic seeding.

By finishing at the top of the league phase with seven victories out of eight matches, Liverpool secured a highly advantageous top-two seeding in the restructured knockout bracket.

Under this new system, Liverpool benefits from avoiding clashes with other elite seeds like Barcelona or Arsenal until a possible final encounter.

Their round of 16 fate is narrowed down to two potential opponents: Paris Saint-Germain or Benfica.

PSG progressed with a commanding 10-0 aggregate win over Brest, while Benfica overcame Monaco 4-3 on aggregate, surviving a dramatic second-leg comeback.

Whether Liverpool and Barcelona end up meeting in the Champions League is unknown, but it seems that the La Masia graduates are keeping a keen eye on proceedings at Anfield nonetheless.

Speaking to Spanish outlet SPORT, up and coming defensive talent Pau Cubarsi revealed that he is watching Virgil van Dijk, and hailed some of his ‘amazing’ attributes

“Yes, I love watching the Premier League and I admire Van Dijk,” Cubarsi answered when asked which defenders he looks at.

“He has amazing physical strength and defence.

He’s also a great leader.”

“It’s true that I pay a lot of attention to him.”

And it seems that modelling his game off Liverpool’s vice-captain is paying dividends, having made 37 appearances across all competitions under Hansi Flick this term – including 24 appearances in La Liga.

At just 17 years of age, that is an impressive achievement indeed.

And Cubarsi is not the only Barca player to speak on Liverpool recently, with Lamine Yamal also tipping his hat to Liverpool and how they have performed so far this season.

“It depends on us,” he said to Mundo Deportivo before adding:

“There is only one team in the Champions League that is more favoured than us, and that is Liverpool because they finished first.”

“In La Liga, we are first at the moment, so it all depends on us?

It’s win, win, and when you are winning, you go through to the next round, and it becomes easier and easier.”

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