Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp hailed Villarreal boss Unai Emery as the “king of the cups” after his side set up a Champions League semi-final meeting with the La Liga outfit.
Klopp opted to make seven changes to the side who drew with Manchester City on Sunday and watched his supporting cast play out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Benfica at Anfield.
Ibrahima Konate and a Robert Firmino brace saw Liverpool progress by two goals on aggregate but few would doubt Benfica made it difficult on the night.
Villarreal themselves pulled off a shock by beating Bayern Munich on Tuesday evening, their second big scalp of the competition on the spin following a win over Juventus in the round-of-16.
Those results are just the latest in a long line of successful European nights for Emery, who beat Klopp’s Liverpool while Sevilla manager in the Europa League final of 2015/16. In total, the fomer Arsenal boss has lifted that trophy four times.
Speaking after the win at Anfield, Klopp said to BT Sport: “If I could do an analysis of Villarreal right now that would be very strange. I saw the results, the game was very impressive.
“I only picked up pieces but to beat Juventus and Bayern Munich they deserve to be in the Champions League semi-finals. Unai Emery is the king of the cups, it is unbelievable what he is doing. But give me a bit of time to prepare it properly.”
