Andoni Iraola has revealed that Villarreal manager Iñigo Pérez could well have been occupying the home dugout at Anfield on Tuesday, had a work permit application not been denied.
Pérez, a former Athletic Bilbao teammate of Iraola's, brings his squad to Merseyside to face the Reds, who have won both of their UEFA Champions League games this season and are expected to maintain their perfect record against their La Liga visitors.
At 38 years old, Pérez is six years younger than Iraola and spent five years alongside the Liverpool boss in the Athletic first-team setup between 2009 and 2014.
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He subsequently served as Iraola's assistant at Rayo Vallecano during the 2022-23 campaign, but was prevented from following his fellow Basque to AFC Bournemouth in 2023 after failing to secure a work permit, as per the Liverpool Echo.
Iraola instead worked closely with Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper at Bournemouth, and later brought the pair with him to Liverpool when he took charge of the Reds over the summer.
He acknowledges, however, that Pérez was always his first choice and is mindful of the threat his friend's side will present at Anfield.
When pressed by Amazon Prime Video on whether Pérez would be by his side at Liverpool under different circumstances, Iraola responded: "Yes, I certainly think so.
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"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 draws parallels between his own journey into coaching and that of Pérez, noting: "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."