Villarreal were always going to find it difficult to escape their Champions League semi-final first leg at Anfield unscathed, according to their goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.
The Yellow Submarine provided stiff opposition for the Reds in the opening 45 minutes, but were finally breached eight minutes into the second half when Jordan Henderson's cross was deflected into Rulli's net by Pervis Estupinan. And that lead was doubled just two minutes later when Mohamed Salah threaded a pass to Sadio Mane, who poked home a second, giving Jurgen Klopp's side a healthy first leg advantage.
The result was fair on the visiting Spaniards and Rulli admitted that it was always a likely outcome when playing one of the best teams on the planet in their own stadium, but still thinks next Tuesday's second leg at the Estadio de la Cerámica could go the other way.
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Speaking after the match to Beaneyman Sports, he said: “We’re talking about Liverpool here, their stadium, 60,000 fans behind them and one of the best teams in the world – maybe the best team in the world at the moment. We’re going to be under pressure at times, aren’t we? We are going to suffer.
“In the second half I think they were better than us but we know what we have got to do and we want to show what we can do next week.”
Stopper Rulli endured a couple of hairy moments in the first half, spilling two long-range shots from Luis Diaz before watching another from Thiago smack a post at the Kop end. But he could do nothing about Liverpool's first goal, when a cruel deflection off Estupinan redirected Henderson's delivery over the Argentine and into the net.
Unai Emery's side will be looking for better fortune, and goals, when the two sides meet again on Tuesday, May 3 for a place in the Paris final.
