Luis Diaz has been praised for his “mesmeric” performance in Liverpool ’s win over Villarreal in the Champions League semi-final on Tuesday night.
Diaz came off the substitutes’ bench at half-time with the score at 2-0 to the hosts and helped turn things around for Jurgen Klopp’s side, who won 3-2 to progress 5-2 on aggregate. Liverpool came into the second leg with a two-goal advantage but saw that wiped out by Boulaye Dia’s tap-in after three minutes and Francis Coquelin header before the break.
Liverpool had struggled in the first half but looked like a different team in the second half. Fabinho smashed a shot through Geronimo Rulli’s legs to restore their lead on aggregate before Diaz headed in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross to make it 4-2 and Sadio Mane made the game safe with a calm finish after some dreadful goalkeeping from Rulli.
