Rafa Benitez has managed many clubs including Liverpool, Real Madrid and Newcastle (Picture: Sky Sports)

Rafael Benitez has told Jurgen Klopp which team to pick for Liverpool’s big Champions League match against Real Madrid.

Liverpool will host Real in the first leg of the round of 16 on Tuesday night, less than a year after they lost to Los Blancos in the final of the competition.

It’s a crucial game for the Reds as the Champions League is the only major trophy they can win and a win there could be their only chance to qualify for next season’s competition.

Even after beating Newcastle on Saturday night, Liverpool remain eighth in the table and six points adrift of the top four thanks to goals from Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo.

With so many important games for the club, Klopp could be tempted to change sides, especially with the many injuries they have already suffered this season.

But former Liverpool manager Benitez, who also played for Real and Newcastle, has urged him not to.

“It depends on what kind of attack he’s doing [Klopp] thinks of Real Madrid because they had problems in the left-back position,” the Spaniard told Sky Sports.

“They’ve played [Eduardo] Camavinga is there, but that is a problem because he is a midfielder and can therefore start easily [Mohamed] Salah, but then they could say it [David] Alaba on the left like last and it gets harder.

“I’m glad he made minutes for that [Diogo] iota and [Roberto] Firmino. But if I were the manager I would use my best team in terms of fitness and confidence.

Benitez also warned Klopp that his defenders would need to be sharper against Real Madrid than against Newcastle as, despite keeping a clean sheet, they struggled to fend off their opponents even after falling back to 10 men.

“If they do what they did tonight [Karim] Benzema, against Vinicius, Madrid will score,” he added.

“Benzema is smart, his movement between the lines is quite complicated and the Vinicius is also a threat. If they pass and can avoid the press and play in the back, they are very dangerous.’