Liverpool's 2-0 win over Villareal on Wednesday night was an extremely one sided affair, with the Reds holding 71% possession during the game. This was largely down to the passing skill of former Bayern Munich and Barcelona midfielder Thiago Alcantara, who has been in sensational form of late for the Reds.
Villareal manager Unai Emery was in charge of Arsenal between 2018 and 2019 before returning to Spain to win the Europa League with El Submarino Amarillo in 2021. However, his side was outclassed on this occasion at Anfield in the Champions League semi-final, having already beaten both Bayern Munich and Juventus to earn their place.
The former Arsenal boss was in charge of Sevilla when they beat Liverpool in the 2016 Europa League final in Basel during Jurgen Klopp's first season on Merseyside and praised the progress made by the German during his time in charge.
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He explained: "They progress a lot. We played against Liverpool with Sevilla in the Europa League final in 2016. We won and they lost. They were out of Europe, in the league and in the final of Europa."
Singling out Thiago for praise specifically, Emery added: "And then they worked with this coach and a lot of players that played, played tonight and others they signed. They have a good team around Jurgen Klopp. Characteristics is to Klopp's taste. Good players, they signed good players with skills like Thiago.
"I think they improve a lot and now they are in the best moment and can win this competition. The power tonight was enough. But we will try next week to do something different. We will have different options and try to get a better result after this 2-0."
Thiago was named man of the match at Anfield and will hope to replicate his performance when his side travel to Spain for the return leg next week.
