Jordan Henderson will watch the Champions League Final on Saturday night hoping to see an old mate in action.
The Liverpool midfielder will be tucked up in the England team hotel in Dublin ahead of Sunday's encounter with Republic of Ireland.
On the television will be Barcelona v Juventus where his former Anfield team-mate Luis Suarez will aim to lift the European Cup - and Henderson is backing the 'hard-working' Uruguayan to fire the Catalan giants to victory.
Republic of Ireland v England
International Match
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
1pm Sunday 7 June 2015
Live on ITV 1
"I have spoken to him a few times over the season and he is improving all the time," said Henderson.
"I learnt a lot from him at Liverpool, he is an outstanding player and is a joy to watch.
"He is a big part of the [Barcelona] front three and the way the system works. I wish him well and hopefully a positive result for him."
He added: "For Luis, apart from what a good individual he was, what he gave to the team was important.
"I could not believe how hard he worked with his talent. We see a lot of players with the talent but not the mentality. Luis has both of those things.
"He would never miss a training session, he would never miss a game. He is a winner."
Suarez and Henderson together at Liverpool
The 24-year-old, who moved to Anfield from boyhood club Sunderland in 2011, revealed he watches a lot of football - even going to the Manchester City v Barcelona game at the Etihad earlier this season - and will be keeping a watchful eye on others in the showdown in Berlin.
For four years he also played alongside another Champions League hero for both club and country - Steven Gerrard.
However, while he continues to develop, he says he is keen to become his 'own player' and not copy others.
"[Ivan] Rakitic is one of the Barcelona players I was looking at in their game against Man City," said Henderson.
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"He does not get the praise of Neymar, Messi or Suarez but is very influential and does the dirty work.
"He has qualities I can learn off and when I watched them live I watched him a bit closer."
He continued: "When Stevie was at Liverpool, I felt I took in what he did on and off the field. He is your ultimate professional and I did that as well.
"I can aways learn from other players, but I never want to be someone else - I want to be my own player."
Despite the Champions League Final, Henderson is fully focused on England's game at the Aviva Stadium against Republic of Ireland at Sunday lunchtime.
Helping Roy Hodgson's men extend their unbeaten run to nine games this season will be his main aim, but he is also looking forward to seeing his former Black Cats boss Roy Keane in their Irish dugout.
Now assistant to Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill, Keane had a major influence on Henderson breaking through to the first-team at the Stadium of Light.
Jordan Henderson prepares for England trip to Ireland
"I have always said in the past, Roy has been a huge part of me getting my chance as a footballer." said the former England Under-21s captain.
"He gave me my debut at Sunderland and had a huge impact over my career. So I have got a lot of thanks to him for that.
"I can never really repay him for that, he started my career as a professional footballer, I learnt a lot from him while I was at Sunderland."
He added: "To work under him was amazing. I think he could see how much I wanted to be a footballer, how hard I worked and obviously I hoped he would see a little bit of quality in there too.
"Hopefully I will have a few words with him after the game on Sunday."
