Liverpool 2-0 Villarreal (Estupinan o.g 53′, Mane 55′)
Liverpool moved closer to reaching a third Champions League final in the last five seasons after a 2-0 win against Villarreal in a one-sided semi-final at Anfield.
Liverpool had 67 per cent of the ball and registered a dozen shots to Villarreal’s one during a commanding but ultimately fruitless first 45 minutes. Sadio Mane, who has been electric since being shifted into a centre forward role, spurned a glorious chance to give Liverpool an early lead, heading wide from a delicate dinked cross from Mo Salah.
The lively Luis Diaz stung the palms of Geronimo Rulli with a couple of sighters from range, Mane had an effort deflected just wide and Salah blazed an effort over the top as frustration began to build at Anfield. Just before half-time, Thiago Alcantara came closest to opening the scoring when he rattled the post with a swerving strike from distance.
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INCREDIBLE STUFF!
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 27, 2022
Moments after Jordan Henderson's deflected cross found the net, Sadio Mane doubles Liverpool's lead! ????
All of a sudden the Reds are dominating Villarreal ????#UCL pic.twitter.com/PDphIrPTAx
In the space of 133 seconds, Liverpool had doubled their advantage with a goal more typical of their play on the night. Salah darted infield, slipped the ball into Mane and he prodded a first-time finish on the stretch into the bottom corner. A VAR check confirmed that Mane had remained onside by a matter of inches.
Villarreal vs Liverpool second leg
Date: Tuesday 3 May
Kick-off time: 8pm
Venue: La Ceramica, Villarreal
TV: BT Sport
Live stream: BT subscribers can watch live on the BT Sport app
Liverpool continued to pin Villarreal deep inside their own third in an attempt to settle the contest and had the ball in the net for a third time when Andy Robertson side-footed a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross into the net, only for the offside flag to come to the La Liga side’s rescue.
Player ratings
Liverpool (4-3-3): Alisson 6 – T Alexander-Arnold 8 (J Gomez 6), I Konate 7, V Van Dijk 7, A Robertson 8 – Fabinho 8, Thiago 8, J Henderson 7 (N Keita 6) – M Salah 7, S Mane 7 (D Jota 6), L Diaz 7 (D Origi 6)
Villarreal (4-4-2): G Rulli 5 – J Foyth 6, R Albiol 6, P Torres 6, P Estupinan 6 (S Aurier 6) – G Lo Celso 6, D Parejo 5 (M Trigueros 5), E Capoue 6, F Coquelin 5 (A Pedraza 6) – S Chukwueze 5 (B Dia 6), A Danjuma 5 (P Alcacer 6)
Henderson: We made life difficult for them | Robertson: We wanted more
“You need a bit of luck when a team plays with a low block,” said Henderson after the game. “We got that and it lifted the crowd. For the majority of the game, the counter-press was really good. It made it difficult for them, but the game is still alive. It will be tough in Villarreal.”
On his part in Liverpool’s opener, Henderson joked: “I thought it went straight in? Yeah, it was a bit lucky. It was good build-up, a little bit lucky off the keeper and I think it went in off the post, but you need a bit of luck when the team is in a low block and we got that with the first and I thought that lifted that crowd.”
Robertson added: “We had a few chances in the first half, trying to break them down. We had a bit of momentum after the first goal and the noise in here was incredible. It took us to the second one. We would have liked one more, but a clean sheet and two goals – we can’t argue with that.”
Pau Torres: There’s a lot of football left in this semi-final
Despite being outclassed by their hosts, Villarreal’s highly-rated centre-back Pau Torres insisted that his side remain in the tie ahead of Tuesday’s return leg.
“We go home beaten by two goals but we stay confident,” he said. “Should we score in the first ten minutes next week we are back in the tie. There’s a lot of football left in this semi-final yet.
“We have the feeling that we were punished for our only errors. In the first half we coped well, but in the second half we were a little overrun. In our planning we addressed the idea that they might go ahead but our plan was a little like in Munich – to stay comfortable, to cope. But our errors were really punished.”
Analysis: Perfection is impossible to achieve against a team as good as Liverpool’s
By Daniel Storey, i’s chief football writer
Villarreal needed perfection and perfection is impossible against this Liverpool team. It isn’t just that they have so, so many weapons to hurt you in attack, with full-back crossing to full-back and a passing central midfielder who could win a game of Operation with his right foot. It isn’t just that they are so relentless without the ball, forcing an opponent to not only be perfect with their action but also their thought.
It’s that Liverpool’s manic brilliance, those bangs and whistles of unpredictability, combined with a serene patience that comes from total confidence in their process. You can stop us time and time again, but we will chip away until a crack appears and we will smash it with extreme force when it does. They wind you with jabs and pepper you with hooks. They show you the ball under the cup and still it ends up in their pocket.
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When that patience is eventually rewarded, Liverpool enter a different mode. It’s not that they play faster, or use more strength, but somehow the same football becomes harder to stop. The established cliche is that you are never more vulnerable than when you have scored a goal, but for Liverpool, it’s the opposite. The psychological impact of wasted effort, many minutes spent clearing and concentrating only to concede, means Liverpool often strike again in quick succession.
This tie is technically not over, but forget the technicality. Liverpool haven’t lost by a scoreline that would even force extra-time in Spain for over a year. In the final throes of the match, each Villarreal central defender sliced the ball into touch. They were weary. They were a little broken. They have led their team to great overachievement, but Liverpool don’t deal in romance these days. They deal in unpredictable, fabulous tricks to achieve predictable results.
Read Daniel’s full report from Anfield here
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