Xabi Alonso will not let the emotions get to him as he takes his Real Madrid team to Anfield to face his former club Liverpool.

Alonso spent a successful stint at Liverpool as a player before leaving to join Madrid.

He played a role in Liverpool's Champions League success in 2005, and while he will always see his time with the Reds as a huge influence in his career, he is not planning on letting the emotions get to him.

"I try not to let my emotions cloud my judgment; I want to focus on the game," said Alonso, who saw his Bayer Leverkusen team lose 4-0 to Liverpool in the Champions League last season.

"Then, whatever happens, happens. I try to distance myself from the emotion; I do it on every pitch I return to. I want to be focused on what I want to do.

"It influenced me a lot; it wasn't a trivial step. I spent five years with Rafael Benitez, and I learned a great deal about elite football.

"It helped me get to where I am now. And if you love football, you love playing here. They were very good years. They helped me as a player and as a coach. I still remember many things from that time, and they're useful to me today."

This will be the eighth time that Liverpool and Madrid have met in the Champions League since the start of the 2017-18 season, with the Spanish side winning five of the previous seven (D1 L1). 

Alonso is not the only one in for a reunion, either, with Trent Alexander-Arnold making his Anfield return four months after leaving Liverpool.

He could become just the second Englishman to play against Liverpool in the European Cup/Champions League having previously played for them in the competition, after Nottingham Forest’s Larry Lloyd in September 1978 (played both games against Liverpool in the first round in 1978-79).

"He's fine, he didn't play against Valencia because of the circumstances [returning from injury], but he's available," Alonso said of Alexander-Arnold.

"He can play. We need him; he has tremendous quality, he's in a new phase of his career, and we have to help him perform at his best."