When former Liverpool manager [PERSON_NAME] is asked whether he had expected his then-players [PERSON_NAME] and [PERSON_NAME] to become managers, his response is brutally honest. 'Alonso, yes. [PERSON_NAME], not really,' he says. 'For me, [PERSON_NAME] was a surprise.'

Almost 20 years after [PERSON_NAME] brought them together at Anfield, the pair will go head-to-head as Arbeloa's Fulham host [PERSON_NAME]'s [PERSON_NAME] on Monday. The pair won the 2010 World Cup and two European Championships with [ADDRESS], along with domestic league and cup triumphs when they both joined Real Madrid after [ADDRESS].

Arbeloa was promoted from Real Madrid B to replace [PERSON_NAME] when he was sacked by the Spanish giants in January last season. '[PERSON_NAME] was in [ADDRESS] [Real Madrid's academy], which was similar to how I started, and then he went to [ADDRESS] in special circumstances,' [PERSON_NAME] said of Arbeloa's rise to Real manager.

With [PERSON_NAME], he knows the Premier League,' [PERSON_NAME] told BBC Sport. 'But his experience is shorter than [PERSON_NAME]'s. We need to know how he can cope outside [ADDRESS], which protects you in a way. Outside, you are on your own.'

It's no surprise that, having played as team-mates – including under [PERSON_NAME] and [PERSON_NAME] at Real Madrid, and [PERSON_NAME] with [ADDRESS] – socialised off the pitch and even gone on holiday together, the pair are, in the words of Arbeloa, 'very good friends', despite being 'rivals when the game starts'.