Luis Garcia has warned Liverpool about the threat Barcelona possess as the two teams get set to face off in the Champions League semi-final.
The former Reds midfielder, who won the trophy in 2005 - scoring five goals in the competition that year, outlined the quality of the Catalan giants as something that matches with their desire and their talisman Lionel Messi.
Garcia moved from Barcelona to Merseyside in 2004 and spent three seasons at Anfield making 121 appearances for the club during a time when he also won the FA Cup, Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup alongside his Champions League honour.
"Barcelona are one of those teams that have everything in football," Garcia told the ECHO.
"At the start of the season they would have been setting out to get the Champions League trophy.
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"They are a club that wants to win this trophy - especially now after missing out on the trophy for the last few seasons.
"It is a team that needs to be winning trophies on the international stage and they are a very strong team that will be very hungry to win it this year.
"Of course, Liverpool should be worried about Messi too."
The La Liga heavyweights haven't featured in the final of the premier European competition since they beat Juventus 3-1 in the 2014/15 campaign.
They face an incredible Liverpool side in the semi-final of this year's tournament who posses the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Alisson Becker, Sadio Mane and Andy Robertson to name just a few of the star-studded line-up.
And Garcia believes neither team is the true favourite with both sides facing a really tough task to progress as they come up against each other at the Camp Nou on Wednesday before the return leg at Anfield next Tuesday.
"At the end of it though this is a Champions League semi-final," he added.
"Every team is so strong and it will be difficult for anyone to progress.
"If either Liverpool or Barcelona get into the next round they are guaranteed to face a tough team and both teams could beat anybody on the day.
"It's going to be a really big challenge and it is difficult to predict who will win this game."
*Luis Garcia was speaking as part of a GambleAware campaign called Bet Regret which aims to prevent people gambling impulsively and raise self-reflection about their gambling behaviour.
