Now coming to the end of his seventh season as a Liverpool player, Roberto Firmino’s place in Anfield lore is cemented.
But the last time the Reds hosted Villarreal, the situation was a little different for a player still trying to establish himself. Firmino scored 11 times in his maiden season after arriving in the summer of 2015, but earned an unfair reputation for going missing in the biggest games.
Just two months before the Yellow Submarine headed to Anfield in April 2016, the forward put in a disappointing display in the League Cup final defeat to Manchester City. “Only silly idiots stay on the floor and wait for the next defeat,” Jurgen Klopp said after tasting his first defeat in a major final as Liverpool boss.
And the Reds didn’t have to wait long to get back off the canvas with their Europa League run offering a distraction to what proved to be a fruitless Premier League campaign. The quarter-final victory over Borussia Dortmund provided one of the iconic Anfield European nights, setting up a last four tie with Villarreal.
It was a contest that Klopp’s side were overwhelming favourites to navigate their way through, but a 1-0 defeat in the east of Spain ensured it would need another stirring performance in front of the Kop to secure progression.
Any fears of a frustrating night were then washed away just seven minutes in when Bruno Soriano scored an own goal to level the scores on aggregate. It then took until the hour mark for Liverpool’s dominance to translate into another goal with Daniel Sturridge, who was left out of the first leg, scoring the all-important second.
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Firmino created Sturridge’s goal, but it was a moment shortly after that strike which will live long in the memory of anyone who witnessed it. After chasing down a ball in the left channel, Firmino was closed down by Tottenham flop Roberto Soldado.
With his back to goal and apparently little room to turn out, the move looked as if it would come to nothing, only for the Brazilian to unleash a piece of outrageous skill to leave the sell- out crowd in a state of shock.
Flicking the ball with his right foot, Firmino shifted Soldado one way, before rolling the ball back the other to leave the ex-Spurs man grasping at air and needing a ticket to get back onto the Anfield turf.
It was the highlight of a virtuoso performance from Firmino which proved once and for all that he would be a mainstay at Liverpool, something he has proven time and time again in the years following the victory.
Adam Lallana scored the third late on to add the gloss to a wonderful performance, one which if they could replicate this week, would likely book their place in another European final. On this occasion, at Anfield at least, the Reds look as if they will need to outpunch Villarreal without Firmino, with injury likely to rule him out.
But like the Spaniards’ visit to Merseyside six years ago, a huge semi-final clash offers the perfect opportunity for the Reds to dispel any incorrect tropes and for a member of Klopp’s squad to etch their into the illustrious European history of the six-time Champions League winners.
