Liverpool seal Champions League final spot
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Liverpool have rallied after an early scare to defeat Villarreal 3-2 and advance to their third Champions League final in five seasons.
Villarreal appeared on their way to another stunning upset by opening a two-goal lead in the first half to offset their 2-0 first-leg loss in England, but the modest Spanish club couldn’t maintain their level and Liverpool came from behind to advance 5-2 on aggregate.
After Boulaye Dia and Francis Coquelin struck for Villarreal, Fabinho, Luis Diaz and Sadio Mane scored in the second half to propel Liverpool into the final for the first time since winning their sixth European title in 2019.
Jurgen Klopp — who will be making his fourth Champions League final appearance as coach, joint-most with Miguel Munoz, Alex Ferguson, Carlo Ancelotti and Marcello Lippi — revealed his side had to completely readjust their game plan after finding themselves 2-0 down at halftime.
“Respect to Villarreal, their team, stadium, coach… unbelievable what they set up and put us under pressure,” Klopp told BT Sport.
“Man-v-man over the whole pitch. We didn’t play football at all. We didn’t get momentum back in the first half. I told the boys, ‘where’s that momentum? they don’t own it’.
“We had to start playing football.
“All of a sudden, when we broke the lines, finding the half-spaces and being more free and more flexible, not fixed on our positions, all of a sudden we were in the game, scored goals and made it happen.”
Villarreal had eliminated Juventus in the round of 16 and Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.
Unai Emery’s team played a man down from the 86th after Etienne Capoue, who assisted on both Villarreal’s goals, was sent off for second yellow card.
Liverpool will play the final in Paris on May 28 against Premier League title rivals Manchester City or 13-time European champions Real Madrid.
The Spaniards will host the second leg at the Bernabeu on Wednesday with City defending a 4-3 win from the first leg.
Liverpool, meanwhile, remain on course for an unprecedented quadruple — having already won the League Cup, they will play Chelsea in the FA Cup final later this month and trail City by one point in the Premier League.
The Reds were dominant in the first leg but seemed lost on Tuesday as Villarreal took the lead when Dia struck from close range in the third minute and former Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin headed home a Capoue cross from the right in the 41st.
Liverpool improved significantly in the second half and turned the match, and the tie, on its head with goals in the 62nd to Fabinho, 67th to half-time substitute Diaz and 74th minute to Mane.
“Their first goal hurt us a lot,” Villarreal defender Raul Albiol said.
With Villarreal’s exit, Ukraine side Shakhtar Donetsk are set to earn an automatic spot directly into the group stage next season.
with PA
AP
