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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Kieran King

Jurgen Klopp equalled Sir Alex Ferguson record in Liverpool win over Villarreal

Liverpool continued their push for the quadruple after qualifying for the Champions League final with a 5-2 aggregate semi-final win over Villarreal on Tuesday.

Goals from Boulaye Dia and Francis Coquelin put Villarreal level on terms in the tie before Fabinho, Luis Diaz and Sadio Mane struck for the Reds to secure their passage into the final later this month. They will face Real Madrid or Manchester City in Paris.

This is the third final they will compete in this season after winning the Carabao Cup back in February with a penalty shoot-out victory over Chelsea. They will also take on the Blues in the FA Cup final on May 14 at Wembley.

In the Premier League, the Reds sit second, one point behind leaders Manchester City with four matches to go. Jurgen Klopp's side host Tottenham this weekend as they prepare to play six games in 21 days before the end of the campaign.

It has truly been a remarkable season for the Reds, who will have played in every possible game they could have competed in this term. They have recorded 45 victories from 58 matches to date.

Liverpool have beaten so many records across the course of the campaign and Klopp equalled yet another feat with the win over Villarreal. He has now reached the Champions League final four times, levelling the record held by Marcello Lippi, Sir Alex Ferguson and Carlo Ancelotti as the coaches who have reached the big event the most times in the competition, as per OptaJoe.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Will Liverpool win the quadruple this season? Let us know in the comments below!

Klopp's first final came during his time in charge of Borussia Dortmund, where his side faced Bayern Munich at Wembley back in 2013. But the 54-year-old was unable to get his team over the line as they suffered a 2-1 defeat thanks to Arjen Robben's injury-time winner.

It took Klopp another five years before reaching his next Champions League final as the Reds beat the likes of Manchester City and Roma en route to facing Real Madrid. But two errors from Loris Karius and a wonderstrike from Gareth Bale secured a 3-1 win for Los Blancos.

At the third time of asking, Klopp finally won European football's biggest prize in 2019. After overcoming a three-goal deficit to beat Barcelona 4-0 in the semi-final, Liverpool went into the final against Tottenham full of confidence and they produced a professional performance to win 2-0 in Madrid. Mohamed Salah's penalty and Divock Origi's late strike were the difference.

The previous two Champions League seasons have proved to be disappointing for Liverpool. They were knocked out by Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid in 2019/20 by losing on away goals in the last 16 and lost 3-1 on aggregate to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals last term.

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