Leaded 2-0 at the break, Liverpool, unrecognizable, woke up in the second period in Villarreal (3-2, go: 2-0), despite the resistance displayed by the modest Spanish club led by Unai Emery.
Le Monde with AFP
A real fear! The ogre Liverpool, announced archi-favori of this double confrontation against the modest “yellow submarine” and pretender to the title, wobbled for 45 minutes Tuesday evening, before establishing its superiority.
It was an Oyonnaxian who opened the scoring against, outdated, surprised Reds. Almost three minutes of play, and an acrobatic discount of the Niortais Etienne Capua, Boulaye Dia adjusts Alisson. A first period concluded by the head of Francis Coquelin on a new service of his compatriot Etienne Capua (40
The awakening was brutal, and the British reaction took place on the return from the locker room. Reds well helped by the errors of the opposing goalkeeper, Geronimo Rulli. Three goals signed Fabinho (62
é>), Luis Diaz (67
The Spanish family club from an average city of 50,000 inhabitants, however modest, has always believed in its chances of the finals. Witness the “Si puede!” (“If, it is possible”, in Spanish) chanted by the Ceramica stadium before the start, and who redoubled intensity during the two decisive passes of the French Etienne Capoue, but which will end up excluded in the 86th after a second yellow card.
“We are already going through a historic moment,” said Emery on Monday at the pre-match press conference. “But Tuesday, we will not play just to be proud. We will play to qualify for the final,” he warned. After resisting Manchester United in groups, and after bringing Juventus Turin and Bayern Munich to fall into direct elimination, men in yellow almost offered a new victory for reference. But the epic stops there. “It hurts us, for our audience, for what we did. We have made incredible efforts, we tried until the end, but their first goal hurt us, and in the second period, physically, They were superior. “explains Raul Albiol, captain of Villareal.
a tenth final of the Champions League
Liverpool, he can still be described as insubmersible, after this incredible reversal of the situation which saved him from resounding disillusionment in the second period. Thanks to this post for the Stade de France, the English club is still in the running for a 7th title in C1.
Reds fans dream of it, and the “best team in the world”, as Unai Emery called it on Monday, has only one match to win to justify its title. The men of Jurgen Klopp will have to wait twenty-four hours to find out their opponent in the final, May 28 at the Stade de France: Manchester City, winner 4-3 in an epic first leg, moves Wednesday (9 pm) at Santiago -Bernabéu to face the king of Europe, Real Madrid and his thirteen continental crowns.