Jonathan Liew on a torrid night for Villarreal
Klopp speaks!
Pau Torres speaks: ““We have the feeling that we were punished for our only errors,” says the Villarreal defender. “In the first half we coped well, but in the second half we were a little overrun. In our planning we addressed the idea that they might go ahead but our plan was a little like in Munich – to stay comfortable, to cope. But our errors were really punished.”
Match report: Liverpool 2-0 Villarreal
Our chief football correspondent David Hytner was at Anfield to see Liverpool dominate their Spanish visitors and give themselves a healthy two-goal cushion ahead of the second leg.
Andy Robertson speaks: “We had a few chances in the first half, trying to break them down,” he tells BT. “We had a bit of momentum after the first goal and the noise in here was incredible. It took us to the second one. We would have liked one more but a clean sheet and two goals, we can’t argue with that.
“It is the semi-final of the Champions League. If you can’t run around for 90 minutes in this kind of game, when will you? Our intensity has been high for the last couple of games. We have had a hectic schedule but we are enjoying it. There is still work to do but we are happy.”
Jordan Henderson speaks: “They are a very organised team and we knew they would make it difficult,” he tells BT Sport. “It was just important that we kept going and believing that we would eventually break them down. We did that with two good goals.
“The first one was a bit lucky - good build up but a bit lucky, in off the defender and keeper I think. But you need a bit of luck when a team plays with a low block. We got that and it lifted the crowd. For the majority of the game, the counter-press was really good. It made it difficult for them. But the game is still alive and it will be tough in Villarreal.”
They’re such a good side are @LFC that they make tricky encounters look fairly straightforward.
— Gary Lineker 💙💛 (@GaryLineker) April 27, 2022
Full time: Liverpool 2-0 Villarreal
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeep! It’s all over at Anfield, where Liverpool have run out comfortable winners in the end despite a frustrating first half. A Pervis Estupinan own goal after industrious work from Jordan Henderson broke the deadlock, while Sadio Mane stabbed home from close range just two minutes later. Liverpool are in the box-seat at half-time in this semi-final tie but Villarreal aren’t completely out of it yet.
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90+2 min: Villarreal win a free-kick for what looked a fairly inoccuous challenge on Serge Aurier by Fabinho. The ball’s swung in from the left and Liverpool clear. Full time.
90+1 min: Raul Albiol makes a mess of a defensive header as he gets under a ball from deep but recovers in time to prevent Divock Origi capitalising.
89 min: After a frustrating first-half, Liverpool settled their nerves qith a quick-fire double but have thus far failed to put the tie beyond a Villarreal side who have offered little or nothing going forward. It’s difficult to imagine they’ll fare much better on their own patch but considering Liverpool’s superiority, they’ll be delighted to escape with a two-goal deficit. If they escape with a two-goal deficit.
87 min: Boulaye Dia latches on to a ball from deep and shoots straight at Alisson. Offside.
85 min: Villarreal substitution: Paco Alcacer replaces Arnaud Danjuma, who’s barely had a touch of the ball.
82 min: Liverpool continue to dominate as their goalkeeper Alisson gets a rare touch from a back-pass. He’s been a spectator tonight - there are several Anfield ballboys who have handled the ball more often than he has this evening.
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80 min: Luis Diaz rolls an inviting cross through the Villarreal penalty area but there’s nobody on hand to convert. Liverpool double-substitution: Joe Gomez and Divock Origi on for Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz.
78 min: Also looking decidedly unimpressed: Sadio Mane as he went off to be replaced by Diogo Jota. He did, however, get a big hug from his manager and a round of appreciative applause from the Anfield hordes.
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77 min: While I was taking care of that personnel admin, Villarreal won a corner and completely wasted it. On the sideline, their manager Unai Emery looked decidedly unimpressed.
75 min: Villarreal substitution I may have missed earlier: Alfonso Pepraza on for Francois Coquelin.
73 min: Villarreal triple-substitution: Boulaye Dia, Serge Aurier and Manu Trigueros on for Pervis Estupinan, Dani Parejo and Samuel Chukwueze.
72 min: Liverpool double-substitution: Sadio Mane and Jordan Henderson off, Diogo Jota and Naby Keita on.
71 min: Rulli flaps at a cross and Luis Diaz tries to hook the ball across the face of goal. Raul Albiol hacks clear with his side in a total defensive dither.
70 min: Estupinan concedes a corner as Liverpool continue to turn the screw.
68 min: Liverpool are rampant. Luis Diaz curls a low, deflected shot wide of the upright moments after Rulli had parried a Virgil van Dijk shot from distance that seemed to swerve in various directions as it approached him.
66 min: Albiol anticipates and cuts out a Salah backheel into the path of Trent Alexander-Arnold as the Liverpool right-back went marauding into the Villarreal penalty area after linking up with his team-mate and galloping forward in anticipation of the return pass.
65 min: At the far post and on the volley, Andy Robertson sidefoots home a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross from the right. Offside and there was nothing marginal about this call.
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63 min: Replays and a freeze-frame show Mane managed to stay onside by a whisker as he ran on to a beautifuully weighted short pass from Mo Salah in the Villarreal penalty area before prodding home Liverpool’s second.
61 min: Villarreal are on the ropes and in a total panic as the tie threatens to get completely away from them. Gio Lo Celso is booked for a foul on Andy Robertson.
60 min: Salah dribbles into the Villarreal box and goes down, apparently the victim of a Juan Foyth clothesline. No penalty, despite vociferous appeals from Liverpool’s players and fans.
58 min: Henderson’s been having having an ineffective game by his own lofty standards but he helped fire his side ahead. His attempted cross took a huge deflection off Pervis Estupinan, looped over Rulli and in to the Villarrealk goal. It’s gone down as an Estupinan own goal but there were, it must be said, a queue of Liverpool players waiting to convert the cross if the Ecuadorian hadn’t stuck out his leg.
57 min: No he was not. Mane’s goal survives a VAR check from Tomasz Kwiatkowski and Liverpool are two goals to the good. That’s his 20th of the season, his sixth in his past seven appearances.
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GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Villarreal (Mane)
Now it’s two! Sadio Mane doubles Liverpool’s lead, scoring their second in two minutes. He runs on to a weighted short pass from Salah and stabs home, but was he offside?
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GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Villarreal (Estupinan og)
Liverpool are in front. A Jordan Henderson cross from the right takes a wicked deflection, loops over the outstretched hand of Rulli and into the Villarreal goal.
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52 min: From a central position, Alexander-Arnold dinks a lovely ball into the Villarreal penalty area for Luis Diaz. He doesn’t connect properly with his header and Rulli gathers comfortably.
50 min: Fabinho hacks the ball home from seven yards at a Liverpool corner but his “goal” is ruled out for offside. Virgil van Dijk was offside in the build-up as Sadio Mane headed the outswinger back into the mixer.
48 min: Villarreal left-back Pervis Estupinan is booked for a foul on Salah near the edge of the Villarreal box. Nothing comes of the free-kick but Liverpool continue to apply pressure.
46 min: Mo Salah sends a cross gliding into the Villarreal box and Villarreal centre-half Pau Torres gets his head to it. Luckily for him, Geronimo Rulli was on hand to catch his inadvertently goal-bound “effort”.
Second half: Liverpool 0-0 Villarreal
46 min: Play resumes with no changes in personnel on either side.
Half-time: Liverpool 0-0 Villarreal
Peep! A first half that was extremely low on quality is brought to a close by our Polish referee, Szymon Marciniak. Liverpool have dominated throughout but Villarreal’s defence has been nothing if not obdurate. The Spanish side have frsutrated their hosts, who have been conspicuously lacking a bit of cutting edge or killer pass in the final third.
45+1 min: Villarreal enjoy a rare excursion out of their own half but it doesn’t last long.
42 min: Oof! Thiago Alcantara hits the top of the left upright with a curled shot from distance.
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41 min: Mane overhits a short pass to Luis Diaz on the edge of the Villarreal penalty area. Juan Foyth slides in to steal the ball with a perfectly timed if slightly risky tackle. The denizens of the Kop appeal for a penalty but none is forthcoming.
39 min: Luis Diaz is penalised for a foul on Dani Parejo near the edge of the Villarreal penalty area. The visitors are making this game as attritional as possible for Liverpool and the natives in the stands are getting audibly restless.
36 min: With Villarreal on a rare attack, Dani Parejo tries to pick out Lo Celso with a ball from the touchline. His target gets a touch on the ball but is on the stretch and can’t control it.
35 min: From the byline, Alexander-Arnold first-times a Robertson ball from deep across the the Villarreal penalty area. Salah gets on the end of his cross but steer it wide.
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34 min: A Salah volley is blocked by a Giovani Lo Celso lunge. It’s a Liverpool corner, which Villarreal clear.
33 min: Liverpool keep hammering on the Villarreal door. A Mane shot is deflected past Rulli by Raul Albiol but drifts narrowly wide of the upright.
32 min: Villarreal goalkeeper Rulli parries a shot into no-man’s land but gets away with it, then Virgil van Dijk is booked for a bodycheck on Samuel Chukwueze.
31 min: Liverpool attack down the right again with ALexander-Arnold and Salah linking up to good effect. Salah tries to pick out a Mane run but Pau Torres intercepts and clears.
27 min: Pau Torres goes to ground after shipping a ball in the face from a Trent Alexander-Aarnold free-kick. There’s a break in play while the cartoon budgies flying around his head are waved away by the physio.
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27 min: Mo Salah curls a left-footed effort a little high and wide after being teed up by Mane. Close but no cigar.
25 min: A heavy touch from Luis Diaz, who was trying to pick out Trent Alexander-Arnold near the byline, skids wide. Villarreal goal-kick.
24 min: Coquelin blocks an attempted Trent Alexander-Arnold cross, putting the ball out for a corner. Nothing comes of it.
23 min: Thiago picks out Henderson near the byline and his low cross-shot from a very tight angle goes into the side-netting. In the Villarreal goal, Rulli had any danger covered at his near post as he ushered the ball wide.
20 min: With almost a quarter of this game gone, it’s fair to say it is not a reprise of last night’s match between Manchester City and Real Madrid in terms of excitement or entertainment. Both teams will be happy enough with how things are going so far but Liverpool are very much on top.
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18 min: Arnaud Danjuma receives the ball halfway inside the Liverpool half and tries to play it wide to Samuel Chukwueze on the right. Andy Robertson intercepts.
16 min: Robertson’s inswinger is headed clear by Raul Albiol on the edge of the six-yard box.
15 min: Liverpool are very much in the ascendency but Villarreal are hanging in there. Corner for the hosts.
14 min: Luis Diaz tries to curl a shot home from outside the Villarreal penalty area. Geronimo Rulli blocks it but fails to hold on to it, but catches it at his second attempt.
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12 min: Mane beats the Villarreal offside trap to run on to a dinked Salah cross from the right. The ball is slightly behind him and he has to contort himself in mid-air. Wide.
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11 min: Villarreal win their first corner of the game but the delivery doesn’t clear the first man. Liverpool clear.
7 min: An Ibrahima Konate header lands at the feet of Sadio Mane just outside the Villarreal six-yard box. He wasn’t expecting it, isn’t able to control the ball and it clanks off his shin and out of harm’s way.
5 min: Andy Robertson attempts to head a cross-field pass from Thiago across the face of the Villarreal goal. Wide. There’s another thumbs-up for the Spaniard, who must feel like he’s been granted an audience with Paul McCartney, such is the number of approving thumbs being held aloft in his direction.
3 min: A raking Thiago Alcantara pass from deep aimed towards Mo Salah is a little too weighty and bounces wide of the Villarreal goal. The Egyptian gives his team-mate the thumbs-up.
2 min: Andy Robertson and Virgil van Dijk exchange several passes in quick succession, the former wide on the left touchline and his Dutch team-mate about 10 yards inside the Villarreal half, in the middle of the pitch.
Liverpool v Villarreal is go ...
1 min: Liverpool get the ball rolling on a balmy spring evening on Merseyside. They are attacking the Kop in the first half, having been forced to change ends by their visitors, who won the toss.
Not long now: With the players ready to emerge from the tunnel and one-tenth of the population of the town of Villarreal mingling with the locals at Anfield, You’ll Never Walk Alone blares out over the PA. Both sets of fans are giving it plenty as they sing along.
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That Liverpool team: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp makes three changes to the team that beat Everton on Sunday for tonight’s game.
Ibrahima Konate replaces Joel Matip in central defence, Jordan Henderson is in for Naby Keita in midfield and Luis Diaz starts ahead of Diogo Jota. Kostas Tsimikas and Curtis Jones are both absent due to non-Covid-related illness.
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Timely reminder that Villarreal subsidised half of their fans travel/match ticket costs - totalling €300 per fan. The club's season ticket holders can buy a ticket for the home leg for as little as €10. Showing it is possible for clubs to respect fans and treat them properly. https://t.co/aTcv0Ggg18
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) April 27, 2022
They've brought some crowd over. pic.twitter.com/JMl9gpsVPZ
— Tony Scott (@Tony_Scott11) April 27, 2022
Liverpool v Villarreal line-ups
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson, Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago, Salah, Mane, Diaz.
Subs: Milner, Keita, Gomez, Adrian, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Minamino, Jota, Origi, Matip, Kelleher, Elliott, Williams.
Villarreal: Rulli, Foyth, Albiol, Torres, Estupinan, Chukwueze, Parejo, Capoue, Coquelin, Lo Celso, Danjuma.
Subs: Sergio Asenjo, Mario, Alcacer, Iborra, Trigueros, Dia, Pena, Mandi, Moi Gomez, Pedraza, Aurier, Jorgensen.
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
Tonight’s match officials
- Referee: Szymon Marciniak
- Assistant referees: Paweł Sokolnicki and Tomasz Listkiewicz
- Fourth official: Slavko Vinčić
- Video Assistant Referee: Tomasz Kwiatkowski
Guardian Football Weekly podcast
In the latest episode of our award-winning podcast, Max Rushden and guests including yours truly, Nicky Bandini and Sid Lowe pick over the bones of last night’s epic ding-dong at the Etihad Stadium, look ahead to tonight’s game at Anfield and chat to Calum Jacobs about his excellent new anthology A New Formation: How Black Footballers Shaped The Modern Game.
If you’re not already a subscriber you can tune in by clicking the link below or sign up for free in all the usual places. And if you like what you hear, we’re touring in the UK and Ireland this summer, so why not come along to see us at a venue near (or very far away) from you. Click here for more information or to buy tickets.
Early team news
Roberto Firmino is Liverpool’s only injury concern, the Brazilian striker having missed Liverpool’s past two Premier League games with a foot injury. While it’s nothing serious, tonight’s game is expected to come a mite too soon for him. “I don’t think [he is ready] yet,” the Liverpool boss told the club website. “He is running outside and that’s good, obviously, but I am not sure.
Villarreal are likely to be a couple of Morenos down, with former Liverpool defender Alberto still recovering from a cruciate injury that he suffered in early March. His namesake-but-no-relation Gerard is also a doubt with a hamstring injury that ruled the striker out of his side’s derby win over Valencia last Tuesday. Winger Yeremi Pino definitely misses out with a twanged hamstring.
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Champions League: Liverpool v Villarreal
With the dust barely settled on last night’s thriller at the Etihad Stadium, Liverpool and Villarreal go toe-to-toe at Anfield in the first leg of this season’s other Champipons League semi-final.
They’ve a hard act to follow but while Villarreal are the least fancied of the teams in the last four, their elimination of both Juventus and Bayern Munich in the knockout stages means only the very naive would underestimate the capabilities of the team from the small town in Castellón. Kick-off at Anfield is at 8pm (BST) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
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