Villarreal defender Pau Torres admits he studies the game of Liverpool centre-half Virgil van Dijk.

Torres has developed into one of Europe's rising centre-back stars, excelling in recent years for both club and country.

"He is the best centre-back in the world right now," said the Spain international. "Because of his physical condition, it doesn't matter if the opponent is fast, he can still leave him space to run and know that he is going to get there.

"You have to watch the best and see how they deal with certain defensive situations. It's interesting to see he handles being outnumbered, because they're a team that play with a lot of people high up the pitch and he has a lot of metres behind him.

"Seeing how he positions himself against those counter-attacks is a real education."