There were no fist pumps from Jurgen Klopp at the end. Not the trademark three, let alone the four that greeted the demolition of Manchester United; one for each goal perhaps. This time, the reaction was subdued. It reflected a job half-done, an attitude from Klopp that Villarreal should not be underestimated. “Half-time, no more, no less,” said the often exuberant German. But, compared to Liverpool’s previous Champions League semi-final Anfield wins of his reign, against Roma and Barcelona, it was a more routine affair. Those scorelines – 5-2 and 4-0 – will echo through the years. A 2-0, attained professionally, with a goal from a deflected cross, will not, even though Klopp tried to brand it “dangerous” amid his attempts to build up the threat of Villarreal. Few were convinced.
Perhaps Liverpool are normalising the process of reaching European Cup finals. And if so, many another will be envious. There are worse habits to have. Certainly the draw, pitting them against Benfica in the last eight and Villarreal in the last four, has had a kindness and maybe that lessened the sense of occasion. When great European nights at Anfield are invoked, even from Klopp’s reign, other opponents – Roma and Barcelona, Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund – will spring to mind before Villarreal. Given the importance of the origin story of Klopp’s Liverpool, maybe 2016’s Europa League semi-final against the Yellow Submarine may linger longer in the memory.
It is partly because now Liverpool can remove the element of drama, partly this was an occasion shorn of the visceral excitement they sometimes offer. Part of the evolution of this team is that they are no longer as reliant on the ferocious start. It was one of their hallmarks. They can reprise it, and did in successive games against the Manchester clubs this month. Yet the side that began like Klopp’s Liverpool in a Champions League semi-final this week were Manchester City. The chaos theory was supposed to come from Klopp’s Liverpool, the control from Pep Guardiola’s City. On successive nights, each looked influenced by the other.
Against Villarreal, Liverpool illustrated that they have got better at a game of patience. “We kept them quiet,” said Klopp, the advocate of heavy-metal football embracing the silence. Alisson had to retrieve the ball from his net five times in a semi-final here for Roma. In Liverpool’s colours, he did not have a save to make against Villarreal.
And after pacifying them, then they struck. Instead of blowing opponents away, they wear them down. “It’s intense for us to play the way we play but it’s intense for the opponent to defend us,” Klopp rationalised. “Maturity is part of quality, to be honest. We should be like this.” Increasingly, Liverpool do not panic when the burden of expectation is upon them and they are confronted with a defiant defence.
There is an art to turning a 0-0 half-time scoreline into a victory. If it obviously involves scoring – and only three opponents have kept clean sheets against Liverpool this season – it also entails finding a breakthrough against sides who have had initial success at frustrating them. Liverpool have done it twice in a week, against Everton and Villarreal. They did it twice in a week in March, against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest. They did it against Inter Milan in the San Siro in February. The team that used to play the fast game now play the long game.
And, 55 games into a marathon season, Liverpool seem to be extending a quadruple quest for longer than anyone else. The bare facts are that they have lost three times in 55 games. Include penalty shootouts and they have won 43. Maybe that is another reason why the celebrations were understated. Winning, whoever the opponent, whatever the competition, is just so normal.
