Jurgen Klopp believes that Unai Emery is an extremely experienced manager who's masterful in cup competitions.
On Tuesday night, Emery's Villarreal pulled off a shock result and eliminated Bayern Munich from the Champions League. The Spanish outfit managed to beat Bayern by a goal to nil in their home leg a week ago, and a 1-1 draw in Munich was enough to secure their semi-final qualification. Meanwhile, Liverpool played out an entertaining 3-3 draw with Benfica at Anfield on Wednesday, but Jurgen Klopp's men's 6-4 aggregate win was enough to set up a tie with the Yellow Submarine.
Emery has ultimately continued his prolific run in Europe. The four-time UEFA Europa League winner is now looking to go one step better by creating history with Villarreal, and if Klopp's words are anything to go by, he may well have a chance of doing so.
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Speaking to BT Sport, via The Boot Room, about the upcoming semi-final, Klopp said: "I obviously saw the results, I saw last night, the game was very impressive, I must say, really good defending. I only picked up pieces but (a team) who kicks out Juventus and kicks out Bayern deserves to be in the (Champions League) semi-finals, it's Villarreal.
"(Unai Emery) is an extremely experienced manager who's kind of the king of the cups, it is unbelievable what he is doing, Unai. When we play them, we'll be ready, but give me a bit of time to prepare properly."
The 'king of cups' Emery sparked debate amongst Arsenal fans after the victory on Tuesday. The north London club sacked Emery in 2019 after just 18 months in charge, but some - especially those who don't trust the process under Mikel Arteta - think he should've been given more time to make his mark. If he goes on to perform another miracle by beating Liverpool, the discussion is bound to continue.
