This is the preparation that Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde has put into Liverpool

Ernesto Valverde

The two teams go face-to-face in the first leg at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night and the Catalan club are considering using long-ball tactics to catch out the Reds.

ESPN FC has reported that Valverde has studied 24 Liverpool matches from this season, paying special attention to their games against City, which ended 2-1 to Pep Guardiola’s side at the Etihad and 0-0 at Anfield, when Riyad Marhez missed a late penalty.

"Liverpool apply very high pressure in the form of six or even seven players," said a Barcelona source.

"They want to make you uncomfortable and, if possible, they want to rob the ball back.

"Our intention is to play as we always do. We want to get the ball at the back and play through their press. But we haven't ruled out going long if we have to."

Barça were crowned La Liga champions on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Levante.

Defender Clement Lenglet revealed before the game that the Catalan club had been spending a lot of time analysing their Premier League opponents.  

"To prepare I have videos of the players I am going to face," he told El Periodico.

"I look at what they like to do, how they dribble, how they move, how they behave at certain moments, what foot they prefer.

"When does (Andy) Robertson, for example, like to cross and where does he usually put the ball? Does (Roberto) Firmino prefer to go to the front post or attack the back post? I like to have every piece of information possible."

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Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.