Our 3️⃣ points as Liverpool fight off Villarreal to reach UCL final | OneFootball

Liverpool beat Villarreal 3-2 on Tuesday (5-2 on aggregate) to book their spot in this year’s Champions League final.

This is what we made of it.

Shock to the system

The first 45 minutes of this match could be considered one of the best halves of football this year after Villarreal’s inch-perfect display bewildered Jürgen Klopp’s men.

Francis Coquelin and Étienne Capoue, in particular, impressed on the pitch which led to the hosts putting two past Alisson and the tie turned on its head.

The visitors subsequently had just two shots in the opening half, zero on target, and a staggeringly low passing accuracy of 66% (in comparison, their lowest count prior to this was 83%).

This forced Klopp’s side to come out reborn in the second half and they eventually undid all of Villarreal’s hard work.

But the performance from the hosts in the first half serves as a massive blueprint for the other Champions League finalist, or even other Premier League clubs, regarding how to stop this Liverpool side.

The ultimate game-changer

The Reds were a shadow of themselves in Spain up until Jürgen Klopp brought Luis Diaz off the bench for Diogo Jota.

And boy does the former Porto man prove time and time again why he is such an important signing.

Over only 45 minutes, Diaz had four shots on target (the most of anyone on the pitch), 90% passing accuracy, and four successful dribbles. But most importantly he had hunger and drive.

His introduction on the pitch jolted Liverpool and nearly single-handily helped them survive a massive scare to reach the final.

Following this transformative performance Klopp has to start him in the final, doesn’t he?

A journey to remember

Villarreal might have fallen short of a miracle but what a run they had this season in the Champions League.

They finished second in a group featuring Manchester United, Atalanta, and Young Boys before pulling off the spectacular against giants Juventus and Bayern in the knockout rounds.

Despite falling short against Liverpool, Unai Emery and his squad can leave with their heads held high because this was a journey football fans won’t forget anytime soon regardless if you support the Yellow Submarine or not.

For a city with a population of around only 50,000, it was one incredible story.