Sid Lowe on Luis Díaz
Klopp speaks!
That’s it for tonight’s blog. I’ll leave you with David Hytner’s report of a dramatic match. Goodnight!
Virgil van Dijk’s verdict
“Hard work. We should forget the first half as soon as possible. The early goal doesn’t help us but we weren’t good enough. We had to dig deep, we had to be very mature, and in the second half we were outstanding with and without the ball.
“[What did Jurgen Klopp say at half-time?] Play football. Play the Liverpool way. Play the way we’ve been playing all season. Get on the ball, have a lot of movement. But also, show how much we want to go to the final.
“Luis Diaz has been incredible. The way he is one v one – it doesn’t matter who he’s facing, he just goes at them without any fear, and if he loses the ball he gets it back as quickly as possible. Go again, go again. And that’s very difficult to defend.
“In the first half we didn’t play football. There wasn’t enough movement so you make the wrong decisions, and then you lose the ball in difficult situations. If we dwell on the first half when we’re going to Paris, I think we’re being harsh on ourselves. What we’ve done this season can’t be taken for granted.
“Whoever we play in the final will be a nightmare to play against. We know City inside out, they know us; we know how intense those games are. And Real Madrid are Real Madrid: such a big club, with a very in-form striker. We’ll see tomorrow. I’m gonna watch it probably.
“There’s no point thinking about a quadruple. You can dream, but you have to be realistic. You saw the first half tonight - we could have been knocked out. That’s football. But it’s something we have to enjoy. For me personally, this time last year I wasn’t even close to playing; now I’m in two finals. We’ll go for it.”
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“So both teams got to enjoy a comeback,” says Matt Dony. “I mean, Liverpool probably enjoyed it more, but at least it was exciting. (Easy to say in hindsight!) I knew very little of Luis Diaz when he signed. £37m seems like a ridiculous price tag! Liverpool’s purchasing really has been astonishing.”
I’m intrigued by his career trajectory. He’s 25, but his numbers don’t stand out at all until this season (I think he got six goals from 30 games in the league in 2020-21). He reminds me so much of Luis Suarez.
More from Trent Alexander-Arnold
“We didn’t play in the football in the first half, we didn’t pick up the second balls. They played the game they wanted to and we allowed them to do that. It was difficult for us. In the second half we played the way we needed to play and controlled the game a lot better. One bad half over the two legs… we can concede that as long as we get the job done.
“It’s always nice to get the job done on the Tuesday, so we can watch the game tomorrow knowing that we’re already there. It could be another amazing game. Either opponents deserves to get to the final, so I’m excited to see who we’ll get.”
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Fabinho’s reaction
“They gave everything in the first half. We knew the first 15-20 minutes would be really important; they scored early and that gave them confidence [and got the fans going]. It was maybe our hardest first half of the season. But after the first goal we controlled the game and now we’re in the final.
“When I received the ball from Mo Salah my first thought was to pass, but I wasn’t sure whether Sadio was offside so I decided to shoot. I think it was the best option!”
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Trent Alexander-Arnold’s reaction
“We don’t make these Champions League semis easy for ourselves: Roma away, Barca at home and now here. They played very well in the first half, but we grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half and did what we needed to do.
“We expected it to be difficult in the first half. Sometimes you can’t control the game how you want to. But we got it done and we’ve booked our ticket to Paris.”
The Villarreal players are going on a lap of honour; quite right too. There’s a lovely atmosphere at El Madrigal, with both sets of fans celebrating in different ways.
Full time: Villarreal 2-3 Liverpool
That’s it! Liverpool are through to their tenth European Cup final, and will play either Manchester City or Real Madrid in Paris on 28 May. They were given a helluva fright by Villarreal, who deservedly led 2-0 at half-time, but Jurgen Klopp’s half-time teamtalk and the introduction of the wonderful Luis Diaz turned the game on its head.
Liverpool dominated the second half even more than Villarreal did the first, with Fabinho, Diaz and Sadio Mane scoring their goals. Villarreal will regret their cautious start to the second half, at a time when they had Liverpool on the rack, but ultimately the best team went through.
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90 min Two minutes of added time.
89 min Liverpool break four on two. Mane picks out Salah, who is off balance and shoots wide.
CAPOUE IS SENT OFF!
86 min The disappointment is all too much for Villarreal. Etienne Capoue, who made both goals in the first half, has now been sent off. He was on a yellow card and took out Curtis Jones, a challenge born of frustration. It was a clear bookable offence. The home fans applaud him off the field nonetheless.
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84 min Pau Torres is booked for a late, ultra-cynical tackle on Mane. Liverpool want him sent off; the referee ignores them. It was somewhere between a yellow- and a red-card offence.
84 min Fabinho, whose goal dragged Liverpool away from the precipice, is replaced by James Milner.
82 min “For 45 minutes that was more exciting than it needed to be,” says Bill Jones. “It’s good to see things returning to just one more boring Champions League win.”
If it stays like this, Liverpool will have won all six away games in this season’s competition. That can’t have happened too often (though Bayern definitely did it two seasons ago).
81 min Lo Celso is booked for Fabinhoing Fabinho.
81 min Rulli makes a fine save with his legs to deny Curtis Jones after a mistake from Pau Torres. Villarreal’s collective noggin has gone.
80 min And two changes for Liverpool. Boulaye Dia and Raul Albiol are replaced by Serge Aurier and Manu Trigueros.
79 min Multiple changes for Liverpool, whose attention now turns to Spurs on Saturday. Jordan Henderson, Curtis Jones and Konstantinos Tsimikas replace Keita, Thiago and Robertson.
77 min Parejo’s free-kick from the left flashes just wide of the far post. I think it took a slight touch, possibly off the head of Robertson, though a goalkick was given.
77 min Alexander-Arnold is booked for pulling back Pedraza. Yellow cards don’t matter at this stage, unless you get two of them.
Rulli, who has had a bit of nightmare, charges 40 yards from goal to challenge Mane but only manages to tackle fresh air. Mane moves away from him, withstands Lo Celso’s desperate challenge and rolls the ball slowly into the empty net.
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GOAL! Villarreal 2-3 Liverpool (Mane 75; agg 2-5)
Liverpool’s comeback is complete!
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74 min Villarreal know it’s over. And though they have ultimately been beaten by a better team, they will forever wonder what might have happened had they not started the second half so cagily. Their approach, though understandable, invited trouble, and they got it.
71 min He doesn’t play in the same position. But in his skill, improvisation, charisma and sheer irrepressibility, Luis Diaz reminds me so much of Luis Suarez. He’s an incredible find; this time last year he wasn’t even a regular at Porto.
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70 min That was a really good header from Diaz, who was backpedalling and off balance but strained his neck muscles to power a header towards goal. He has done unto this game as Vinnie Jones did unto Gazza.
69 min Two changes for Villarreal: Alfonso Pedraza and Samuel Chukwueze replace Gerard Moreno, who has been struggling with his hamstring since around the half-hour mark, and Francis Coquelin.
Diaz’s introduction changed the entire match, and it’s fitting that he should score. Alexander-Arnold curled a superb inswinging cross with his left foot, and Diaz ran beyond a static defence to force a downward header through the legs of Rulli. Both goals have gone through the legs of Rulli, though there was nothing much he could do about that one.
GOAL! Villarreal 2-2 Liverpool (agg: 2-4; Diaz 67)
Liverpool are heading to Paris, and they have Luis Diaz to thank!
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67 min The resulting corner is headed not far wide by Konate. It’s all Liverpool now.
66 min: Diaz hits the post! This fella’s a magician. He wriggles away from Foyth and Capoue, improvising all the while, before hitting a shot that brushes Albiol and deflects onto the outside of the far post!
65 min Dia, who has done very little apart from score the opening goal that changed the entire mood of the tie, has a chance to play Moreno through but hits it straight at Konate. The angle wasn’t great but that was still an opportunity for Villarreal.
63 min Capoue overruns the ball, lunges at Fabinho and is booked. For a split second I thought he was going to be sent off, but a yellow card was the right decision.
That goal has been coming since half-time. Fabinho had a rare wander forward and found Salah on the right. He poked the ball back infield to Fabinho, in space on the right side of the area, and he thrashed a shot that went straight through the legs of Rulli. That’s a pretty bad mistake from the keeper I’m afraid.
GOAL! Villarreal 2-1 Liverpool (agg: 2-3; Fabinho 62)
Liverpool are back in front in the tie!
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60 min Diaz has looked sharp and full of purpose since coming on at half-time. £37m my foot; he’s already worth twice that.
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59 min Liverpool have been better since half-time but I also think Villarreal have become more cautious. I know it’s human nature, especially when you are the underdog, but their aggressive approach worked so well in the first half.
57 min Diaz shins a scissor kick over the bar. That looked a decent chance, though I’d like to see a replay before judging him unfavourably.
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56 min A corner is half cleared to Thiago, who shoots straight at Rulli from the edge of the area. Liverpool look the likelier scorers at the moment.
55 min: Alexander-Arnold hits the bar! A free-kick is played short to Alexander-Arnold, 30 yards out. He takes a couple of quick touches and leathers a shot that hits Coquelin and loops onto the top of the crossbar.
53 min “VIL v LIV,” says Stan T in California. “The palindrome game.”
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51 min Salah plays in Alexander-Arnold, who slices a cross wide of the near post before being wiped out by Estupinan. Liverpool’s intensity has been much better since half-time, though we haven’t yet seen the usual quality.
49 min Alexander-Arnold’s deep, dipping free-kick hits the unsighted Mane and rolls wide of the far post.
48 min Keita is fouled 25 yards from goal by Estupinan. Liverpool, as you’d expect, have made a livelier start to the second half.
46 min Villarreal begin the second half.
Just one half-time change for Liverpool. Luis Diaz replaces Diogo Jota. That move isn’t a surprise, but I thought Jordan Henderson would come on for Naby Keita as well.
“Liverpool are discovering the price of having full backs who, while brilliant going forward, are not too hot on the basics of defending,” says Frank. “Robertson didn’t do enough to close down the cross for the second goal while Trent just stood as his man jumped. Also, Thiago is the guy you want when you’re in the ascendancy but can he dig you out of a hole?”
It’s interesting that both Everton and Villarreal have targeted Robertson and Alexander-Arnold in recent weeks, with a reasonable amount of success. I still think they’re the best full-back pair in the world, mind you.
I’ve changed my mind again on Capoue’s first assist. I think he was trying to shoot, but he was off balance, under pressure from Robertson, and that’s why he screwed the ball back across goal.
“As a gloomy Chelsea fan,” begins Claire McConnell, “if I never hear the word ‘quadruple’ again it will raise my spirits considerably.”
If there’s one subject I know about, it’s premature
e
schadenfreude, and I fear you’ve gone too early there.
Next stop, rocket science
Henderson & Diaz at ht please! #VILLIV
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) May 3, 2022
Half-time entertainment
Half time: Villarreal 2-0 Liverpool (agg: 2-2)
Liverpool are officially embroiled. They have been outplayed, outsmarted and outfought by Villarreal, who are level in the tie thanks to goals from Boulaye Dia and Francis Coquelin. Join us in 15 minutes for the second half. Spoiler alert: it gets emotional.
45+2 min “Hello from Javea, Costa Blanca north,” says Magali Fradet. “My Airbnb guests flew over from Liverpool and are now in the Villarreal stadium. I’m feeling very torn … but hey, aren’t Villarreal amazing?”
I feel slightly ashamed for giving them such little chance tonight. Did I learn nothing from the last 20 years?
45+1 min Two minutes of added time.
45 min Breaking news: a hairdryer is on charge in the away dressing-room. Liverpool have been an unfathomable mess in this first half.
Francis Coquelin, once of Arsenal, has brought Villarreal level in the tie! Again it came from a cross, this time by Capoue on the right. He Cruyff-turned away from Robertson and lofted a left-footed cross to the far post. Coquelin got the wrong side of the unvigilant Alexander-Arnold, hung in the air for an age and steered an excellent header into the corner.
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GOAL! Villarreal 2-0 Liverpool (agg: 2-2; Coquelin 41)
It’s 2-2!
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39 min Gerard Moreno, who has played brilliantly on his return from a hamstring injury, is moving gingerly. Samuel Chukwueze is warming up and may well be needed.
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37 min: Huge Villarreal penalty appeal turned down! Lo Celso was put through on goal and tried to go round Alisson, who dived bravely at his feet. Both men ended up in a heap, and on first viewing it looked a really tight call, but replays showed it was a clean bit of keeping from Alisson. If anything, Lo Celso fouled him. But it was a great chance for Villarreal, stemming from a mistake by Keita. He’s had a dreadful first half, as he did in Spain against Real Madrid last season.
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34 min This has been Liverpool’s worst performance in a while - certainly since the first half at the Etihad and probably a lot longer than that. They just need to get to half-time at 1-0 and allow Jurgen Klopp to work his magic.
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31 min Boulaye Dia’s early goal remains the only shot on target in the game. Villarreal have been much the better side but they haven’t created many opportunities.
30 min Gerard Moreno is having a fine game. His movement has been very smart; he’s constantly pulling away from van Dijk to find space in behind Robertson.
29 min Albiol brazenly wipes out Mane and is fortunate to avoid a yellow card.
29 min “Liverpool need to find their inner Everton,” says Simon Kirchin, a message that can be interpreted a number of ways.
28 min The pace of the game has slowed a little in the last few minutes. Normally that would be a bad thing for Liverpool, but at the moment it suits them.
26 min The pitch is playing well enough despite all the rain. There are a few areas where the ball is holding up, especially on the right side of the Liverpool penalty area, but it hasn’t really affected the game yet.
24 min Salah shoots just wide from 15 yards after a bit of a scramble in the area, though the referee had blown for something or other. There was a chance for Jota earlier in the move that would have counted: he was put through on goal by a clever square ball from Salah, but a slightly heavy touch allowed Raul Albiol to get back and smother the danger with the help of the keeper Rulli.
20 min In the parlance of our time, Liverpool are suffering. They look a bit ragged both in defence and attack, though you know they won’t play like this all night. Villarreal need to make the most of their dominance.
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18 min “Is it possible,” says Brendan Large, “that the fact that this isn’t a standard massive European stadium, (and more like a fourth- or fifth-round FA Cup tie stadium) makes this more difficult for Liverpool?”
Oh, absolutely, and so far the atmosphere has been tremendous.
17 min Keita, who hasn’t started well, throttles a shot wide of goal from 25 yards. He had better options to his right.
16 min: Chance for Villarreal! This is getting a bit too lively for Liverpool’s taste. A hanging cross from the left is headed towards goal by Moreno and hits Robertson in the face. He didn’t know much about that. I suspect Alisson had it covered, though I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.
14 min Thiago clips the top of the bar from 20 yards, though a foul had been given against Keita. It was a softish decision, though I think the whistle had been blown before Thiago’s shot, so it wouldn’t have gone to VAR even if he had scored.
14 min You knew it was coming, and Peter Oh has obliged us with a simple two-word email. “Oh Dia.”
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13 min Moreno’s dangerous cross from the right is headed away by van Dijk. At the moment it’s Liverpool who are struggling to breathe.
12 min A loose ball breaks to Parejo, who shoots not far wide from 22 yards. Alisson had it covered, but these are nervous times for Liverpool.
11 min Robertson’s mishit free-kick is miskicked wide from 15 yards by Jota. He wanted a corner; the referee didn’t oblige him.
10 min “When the camera cut to Unai Emery after the goal,” begins Kári Tulinius, “he had the expression of a man weighing willing his team not to do anything stupid in the next five minutes.”
And they’ve managed it, so I bet he’s doing a Singin’ in the Rain jig now.
9 min Keita was at fault for the goal too - he allowed Estupinan to cross far too easily. Liverpool haven’t settled yet.
8 min “Van Dijk joined Liverpool in 2018, four years and four months ago from today,” says Yash Gupta. “He also missed about a year due to injury. So the greatest of all time are now decided by a three-and-a-half-year spell. Smart thinking from Owen who no doubt using the same logic was about to honk - HE HIMSELF IS THE BEST STRIKER OF ALL TIME.”
5 min I did Capoue a disservice. Not only did he get the wrong side of Robertson, he showed great awareness and coolness to guide the ball back across to Dia. Capoue’s would have been a good chance; Dia’s was an open goal.
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Villarreal have got the early goal they craved! Estupinan’s terrific cross from the left was diverted back across goal by Capoue, and Boulaye Dia passed it into the empty net from six yards. It looked like a great chance for Capoue, and I’m not 100 per cent sure he was trying to find Dia. But he did, and Villarreal are back in it.
Alisson, who scrambled across his line in an attempt to cover a possible shot from Capoue, was out of the game when the ball went back across to Dia.
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GOAL! Villarreal 1-0 Liverpool (agg: 1-2; Dia 3)
Hello!
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2 min An update from Joe Watt in Valencia (see 19.57). “And now the electricity is gone.”
On the plus side
, you can still read this liveblog on your phone.
1 min Peep peep! Liverpool kick off from right to left. The rain has stopped.
“Is it safe,” says Peter Oh, “for the Estadio de la Cerámica to host an exhibition of heavy metal football?”
Ha. Liverpool would be happy with 90 minutes of Brian Eno tonight.
“I’m down the road from Villarreal in València,” says Joe Watt. “Just sprinted one minute to the pub and I’m soaked through. God knows what will happen in this weather.”
The players are about to walk onto the field. The Villarreal fans are making one helluva noise.
A reminder of the teams
Villarreal (4-4-2) Rulli; Foyth, Albiol, Pau Torres, Estupinan; Lo Celso, Capoue, Parejo, Coquelin; Moreno, Dia.
Substitutes: Asenjo, Jorgensen, Mario Gaspar, Alcacer, Iborra, Chukwueze, Trigueros, Pena, Mandi, Moi Gomez, Pedraza, Aurier.
Liverpool (4-3-3) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson; Keita, Fabinho, Thiago; Salah, Jota, Mane.
Substitutes: Kelleher, Milner, Gomez, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Minamino, Tsimikas, Diaz, Origi, Matip, Elliott.
“Am all athrill with anticipation!” coos Ian Copestake. “To have the class of a Thiago balanced by the giraffe legs of Fabinho prodding out dangers all over the pitch. I have no idea how a side like City function. They just have lots of amazing small players. But this lot make sense in a sort of old-fashioned, cogs-in-a-machine way.”
“There are at least 15 Premier League sides that would absolutely love to trot out Liverpool’s bench as their starting XI (minus one, obviously). You know they’ve got depth for days, but to see it laid out like that is frightening stuff.”
As if to rub it in, Jurgen Klopp has picked a bench that you can fit into a realistic XI, rather than one of those fantasy teams people pick with Pele and Maradona at centre-half.
Liverpool (4-3-3) Kelleher; Milner, Matip, Gomez, Tsimikas; Oxlade-Chamberlain or Elliott, Henderson, Jones; Minamino, Origi, Diaz.
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Jurgen Klopp’s pre-match thoughts
“[Is it dangerous to think you’re through already?] They have nothing to lose, we have nothing to win, so we’ll decide what we think. We’re going to treat this like a one-off final and go for it.
“[On the two changes from the first leg] It is rotation, but also there are specific moments where you want a specific skillset, and that’s why we decided on this line-up.
“I look at Villarreal and think, ‘What would I do?’. Two-nil down, maybe didn’t play your best football … give it a go. That’s exactly what Villarreal will do. They will go for it, but we will as well, so let’s see.”
“Villarreal were swamped by the Liverpool press and barely coped,” says Tim Stappard. “Unai Emery is extremely good but he can’t give his team more time. Benfica troubled them more, and it’s a weak Benfica too.”
That second sentence is great, and so neatly put. I knew Manchester United should have appointed Neo as their new manager.
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Presented without comment On BT Sport, Michael Owen has just announced that Virgil van Dijk is the greatest centre-half of all time.
“I will unavoidably miss the first half tonight,” writes our resident Liverpool supporter Matt Dony, “so I’ll get all my groaning negativity in early doors. It all seems a little ‘too’ comfortable. Villarreal are a very good side (they’re in the semi-finals of the Champions League, for goodness sake!), and 2-0 isn’t exactly the world’s most astonishingly comprehensive lead.
“Yes, Liverpool should go through. But the level of confidence in certain areas of social media is hubristic and fool hardy. The abolishment of the away goals rule is absolutely a good thing. But I’d quite like to bring it back in tonight. Who do I need to speak to?”
I’ve been trying to make sense of this as well. I’ll be honest, I’m expecting a quiet night in the MBM dungeon, and I think that’s due to the manner of the first leg rather than the scoreline. It reminds me of that old line about album reviews: “Sure, they gave you 6/10, but it reads like an 8.”
The first leg was a 2-0 that read like a 4-0, which is why most of us think Liverpool will progress comfortably. That and because they are formidably good. But as a neutral I would love extra-time, penalties, the whole shebang.
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The weather in Villarreal has been atrocious for the last 48 hours, which could make life interesting for the goalkeepers. The pitch is sodden but apparently there’s no danger of the game being abandoned.
Torrential rain all day here in Villarreal. Fair bit of wind too. Tough conditions but the pitch has taken it well. See you on @btsport at 7pm. #VILLIV
— Michael Owen (@themichaelowen) May 3, 2022
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Team news
The excellent Gerard Moreno returns to the Villarreal side, but they are without the injured Arnaut Danjuma. That’s a big blow. Moreno for Danjuma is one of two changes from the first leg at Anfield. The other is also up front, where Boulaye Dia is in for Samuel Chukwueze.
Jurgen Klopp also makes two changes from last week’s first leg: Naby Keita and Diogo Jota replace Jordan Henderson and Luis Diaz.
Villarreal (4-4-2) Rulli; Foyth, Albiol, Pau Torres, Estupinan; Lo Celso, Capoue, Parejo, Coquelin; Moreno, Dia.
Substitutes: Asenjo, Jorgensen, Mario Gaspar, Alcacer, Iborra, Chukwueze, Trigueros, Pena, Mandi, Moi Gomez, Pedraza, Aurier.
Liverpool (4-3-3) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson; Keita, Fabinho, Thiago; Salah, Jota, Mane.
Substitutes: Kelleher, Milner, Gomez, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Minamino, Tsimikas, Diaz, Origi, Matip, Elliott.
Referee Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)
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Preamble
A year is a long time in association football. On 3 May 2021, Liverpool were seventh in the Premier League and seven points off Champions League qualification. Now they are two games away from a seventh European Cup and could be seven games (plus one Manchester City drawfeat) from an historic quadruple.
Football is a never-ending tale of the unexpected, a thought that will sustain Villarreal ahead of tonight’s match at El Madrigal. The first leg was so one-sided - a 2-0 that felt like a 4-0 - that most neutrals think Liverpool are as good as in the final already. It’s not a view that will be shared in the away dressing-room or the away end. Liverpool’s legend has been built on glorious European comebacks, from Juventus in 1965 to Barcelona in 2019, so they know all about the madness of the second leg.
If Liverpool get the first goal, it’s over. If Villarreal score it, all bets are off.
Kick off 8pm.
