Leading 2-0 at the break, Liverpool, unrecognized, woke up in the second half and managed to qualify for the Champions League finals, despite resistance shown by moderate Spanish club Villarreal (3-2, first leg: 2-0) led by Unai Emery on Tuesday.
Surprised at the start of a goal from Boulaye Dia, then before the break by a header from Francis Coquelin in a new service from his French compatriot Etienne Capoue (40th), Jurgen Klopp’s staff were replied after returning from the locker room, with three goals signed by Fabinho (62nd), Luis Diaz (67th), and Sadio Mané (74th), in a dangerous exit from Geronimo Rulli.
The Reds will have to wait 24 hours to find out their opponent in the final, on May 28 at the Stade de France: Manchester City, winning 4-3 in an epic first leg, travel Wednesday (9 pm) to Santiago-Bernabéu to face the King of Europe, Real Madrid and its thirteen continental crowns.
Liverpool, who announced their favorite double confrontation against Villarreal and contender for the title, faltered in Ceramica’s wet pot for 45 minutes, before establishing their superiority on returning from the locker room.
The entry of Luis Diaz, who replaced Diogo Jota in the 46th minute, was decisive: the Colombian immediately took the risk in front of Geronimo Rulli’s cages, and scored the second goal for the Reds.
Winning bet for Klopp, who could only see from the bench the inferiority of his team in the first period.
Because the Spanish family club is from a typical town with 50,000 inhabitants, no matter how modest it is, it always believes in chances to have a final.
Witness the If ugly! (If possiblein Spanish) sung by the Ceramica stadium even before the kick-off, and doubled their intensity when the first goal signed Dia to a beautiful delivery from Etienne Capoue, author of two decisive passes but who didn’t will join the 86th after a second yellow card.
After holding off Manchester United in the group stage, and knocking down Juventus Turin and Bayern Munich in the knockout stage, the yellow men came close to snatching another big fish from their roster. But the epic ends there.
As in 2005-2006, when Villarreal reached the last four of C1 for its first participation in the competition before falling against Arsenal (1-0, 0-0), the course stopped one step from the final in 2022.
Thanks to this ticket for the Stade de France, the English club is still running for a historic quadruple, having won the League Cup, the FA Cup, the championship and the Champions League.
But Reds fans are dreaming mainly of a new consecration of the continental, after it got in 2019 against Tottenham. Ang best team in the worldas Unai Emery called it on Monday, there is only one game to win to justify its title in the eyes of the world.
Source: Radio-Canada
