In 45 minutes, Villarreal will have managed to make Liverpool doubt on Tuesday before he wakes up (3-2) to ensure his qualification for the Champions League final.
Victorious in the first leg semi-final (2-0), the Reds expected a rather easy return match. But barely entered the lawn of the Estadio de la Cerámica, they were stifled by the high pressing led by the players of Unai Emery.
Barely three minutes of play and the Spaniards launched their fantastic comeback. The surprise holder, Boulaye Dia, was at the conclusion of a strike from Etienne Capoue, already well served by Estupinan. The Senegalese scored the first C1 goal of his career and allowed his team to recover.
Liverpool unrecognizable, clumsy in their passes and attacks, the “yellow submarine” took the opportunity to double the bet and knock out the Reds, for whom everything had to be redone. Just after a big outing from Alisson on Lo Celso and an obvious penalty not whistled, Coquelin headed the goal that redistributed all the cards. Already a passer on the opener, Capoue reiterated shortly before halftime to offer his fourth assist of the season in C1.
Luis Diaz changed the face of Liverpool
But after a half in favor of the Spaniards, the second was quite different, the Reds finally waking up. And this change owes a lot to the entry of Luis Diaz in place of Diogo Jota, who energized the English attack and allowed Sadio Mané to find his favorite place to express himself better. He multiplied the assaults, offering himself a failed recovery (57th) before the goal of the equalizer after the hour mark (67th) on the fallout of a center from Alexander-Arnold.
Above all, Emery’s players paid for the hard work done in the first half and the Reds took advantage of the slightest error to regain the advantage. The proof five minutes earlier, Fabinho, forgotten to the right of the penalty area, deceived Rulli with a small bridge (62nd). And Sadio Mané’s winning goal, after another hazardous exit from the Argentinian goalkeeper, definitively sealed the outcome of the match.
If the “yellow submarine” ended up sinking, it will have proven that Liverpool can be stopped, at least for half time, revealing an unrecognizable face.
By winning at the end of the two halves (5-2), Liverpool reach their tenth C1 final and can still dream of a historic quadruple (Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and English League Cup).
But in the final against Manchester City or Real Madrid, Mohamed Salah’s teammates know that the slightest mistake will cost them dearly.