Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Rob Smyth

Villarreal’s Mission: Nigh-on Impossible against Liverpool

Support for Liverpool in Kenya, with a portrait of Jürgen Klopp wishing Muslims a happy Eid.
Support for Liverpool in Kenya, with a portrait of Jürgen Klopp wishing Muslims a happy Eid. Photograph: Boniface Muthoni/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK

The legend of Liverpool has been built on glorious comebacks against foreign opposition. The list, the very long list, includes Club Brugge in 1976, Saint-Étienne in 1977, Milan in 2005, Hicks and Gillett in 2010 and Barcelona in 2019. So even though most of us think Liverpool have nine toes in the Big Cup final, they’ll be taking the square root of bugger all for granted in Villarreal. Liverpool lead 2-0 from the first leg, in which their sadistic heavy metal football came within an overzealous semitone of causing collective tinnitus among the Villarreal squad.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.