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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Paul Gorst

Pau Torres sends Villarreal warning to Liverpool before Champions League decider

Pau Torres has warned Liverpool that their Champions League semi-final tie is far from over ahead of the second leg at Villarreal on Tuesday night.

And the Spain defender labelled the visit from Jurgen Klopp's men as the "biggest game in the history of the club" as the Yellow Submarine aim to perform a shock turnaround against the Reds after their 2-0 defeat on Merseyside last week.

Sadio Mane added to an own goal by Pervis Estupinan at Anfield to put Klopp's side within touching distance of a third final appearance in five seasons. The victors of Tuesday's tie will find out the identity of their opponents when Manchester City travel to Real Madrid on Wednesday night.

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Torres called on the El Madrigal faithful to play their part as the two teams square off in a second European semi-final tie at the venue in six years.

The Villarreal defender said: “We are aware of what is at stake. I think Villarreal is a better Villarreal than we were last week. We are aware of the kind of work we need to do. We know what we need to do.

"We have the fans behind us. We've seen a very strong Villarreal in our own stadium this season in very important games and we are aware of what we need to do.

"Liverpool didn't surprise us. We knew the way they played. Yes they did manage to deactivate our offence but we were comfortable we could stop them in the first half but they overcame us in the second half. A tie is always 180 minutes and nothing is decided.

"This is the biggest game we've seen in the history of the club. We will give 100 per cent on the pitch and we know they will be backing us. I'd tell them to enjoy the game tomorrow.

“There is no ideal script, there is only one objective. It doesn't matter how you get it done, whether you score in the first minute or the 60th minute. We are aware a goal would put us right back into the tie.

“That game could be an example as we also played against a rival who was favourites and we managed to beat them. They are favourites again, we play at our stadium again.

"[The manager] wants us to be ourselves, play our game. We have our ideas, we know if we do the same game plan and do what the coach wanted us to do in the previous ties we managed to beat teams who were superior on paper. If we do that we are pretty confident in our chances."

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