Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold admits they 'never make it easy' for themselves after they came from behind to beat Villarreal 3-2 in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final.
Jurgen Klopp's side found themselves 2-0 down and their aggregate lead gone at half-time, following goals from Boulaye Dia and Francis Coquelin. Their quadruple hopes were slipping through their fingers right before their eyes.
However, a sensational second-half comeback saw them gain some control and put the tie to bed. Super-sub Luis Diaz, Fabinho and Sadio Mane were among the goals as they booked their place in the final in Paris.
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Alexander-Arnold admitted it was a 'difficult' first half against Unai Emery's side and conceded they never do things the easy way.
He told BT Sport post-match: "We never tend to make these Champions League semis easy for ourselves, no matter if we’re home or away, Barca and now here. It’s difficult, very difficult.
"Obviously we came here, they played very well in that first half, we regrouped at half time and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and done what we needed to do. It was difficult for us first half, we expected it but sometimes you can’t control the game how you want to.
"They started well, scored early doors which we didn’t want, but we got the game done and booked our ticket to Paris."
Luis Diaz came on for Diogo Jota at the start of the second-half and it was a game-changing substitute from Klopp as the Colombia international netted Liverpool's second of the night. But it wasn't just the personnel that changed, Alexander-Arnold explained what made the difference after the break.
He added: " We just needed to play how we wanted to play. We didn’t play football in that first half, never picked up any of the first or second balls at all, then they played how they wanted to and we allowed that.
"It was difficult, second half we played how we needed to, controlled the game a lot better and one bad half over the two legs, we can concede that as long as we got the job done and that’s what we did today."
