Villarreal boss Unai Emery has admitted Liverpool were worthy Champions League finalists over their two legs.
The Reds eventually booked their place in the Paris final on May 28 after a second-half turnaround that saw Jurgen Klopp’s men win 3-2 on the night in Spain and 5-2 on aggregate.
After Boulaye Dia and Francis Coquelin had cancelled out Liverpool’s 2-0 advantage from the first leg, the Reds responded after the break with goals from Fabinho, Luis Diaz and Sadio Mane to set up a third final in four years for Klopp.
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Speaking at full-time at La Ceramica, Emery accepted the best team has gone through to the Paris showpiece.
“When you have lost the moment is sad for everybody,” Emery said.
“We can't be happy because of the way we were doing good matches, good battles against Juventus, Bayern Munich and then some excellence against Liverpool.
"They deserve to play in the final. First half tonight we showed everybody we are a good team as well and we can have chances too. But the difference in two matches was with them."
Defender Raul Albiol added: "It wasn't to be tonight but the effort our team put in was incredible, immense. Their first goal did us so much damage. We paid dearly for the huge effort we put in during the first half when we played so well. We dropped our level, physically, after the break and we were made to pay for that."
Liverpool will meet either Real Madrid or Manchester City in the final later this month.
