As Rangers prepare to face Liverpool, the chance to play against former Porto winger Luis Diaz is an interesting subplot heading into the game.
The Anfield side negotiated a reported £50m deal to bring the Colombian attacker to Merseyside at the end of the January transfer window.
The 25-year-old has impressed in his first six months with Jurgen Klopp’s side and is already an important part of the first team with many backing the player to start against Rangers.
This comes after the winger impressed after coming off the bench at half-time in Liverpool’s 3-3 weekend draw with Brighton.
But whilst this is the first time in history that Rangers are playing Liverpool in a competitive match, with the Champions League clash the first Battle of Britain for six years to boot, there are some players in the Liverpool squad who’ve faced this Ibrox side.
Liverpool winger Luis Diaz failed to beat Rangers with Porto
Amongst them is Colombian winger Luis Diaz, who was part of the FC Porto team that Rangers drew in the Europa League group stages in the 19/20 season.
Luis Diaz even scored in the first match between the two sides in Portugal, with Alfredo Morelos cancelling the goal out and earning Rangers a point in the Estadio do Dragao.
The return was even more painful for the Colombian, as his international teammate Morelos opened the scoring in a famous 2-0 win for Rangers at Ibrox.
Steven Davis got the other goal on a memorable night during Steven Gerrard’s tenure with Luis Diaz coming off the bench for Porto early in the second half before being yellow carded later in the game.
Rangers fans will be hoping the previous clash with Luis Diaz is a good omen heading into the Liverpool game but the English giants represent a different challenge altogether.
There’s also another player in the Liverpool squad who is familiar with Rangers, but it’s someone that fans might rather hope to forget.
