LIVERPOOL. In the first leg of their semi-final match against Villarreal, Liverpool won 2-0. Jurgen Klopp said that even though they have one foot in the Champions League final, they still have to be on the lookout.
Pervis Estupinan turned a cross from Jordan Henderson into his own goal, and then Sadio Mane scored a second goal for Liverpool in two minutes. Villarreal manager Unai Emery had planned to keep Villarreal from scoring, but that didn’t work out.
The Reds are still on track to become the first team in history to win all four of the major leagues, the FA Cup and the League Cup.
And, barring a major upset when the teams meet again in southern Spain in six days. Liverpool’s season will end on May 28 in Paris with a third Champions League final in five seasons which you can see an update in OKBET.
“It’s 2-0 at halftime,” Klopp stated. “You must be focused, 100 percent at the moment, and play the second half in the same manner as the first. We are aware that it will be a challenging environment for us.”
In sharp contrast to the free-flowing excitement of Manchester City’s 4-3 win over Real Madrid in the other semi-final on Tuesday. Emery’s side used the same strategy that got them past Juventus and Bayern Munich, retiring behind the ball.
The Yellow Submarine, on the other hand, could scarcely lay a glove on Klopp’s players. Who simply had to wait their turn to make their domination count.
“The 2-0 is a well-deserved victory,” Emery stated. “It might have been a lot worse, but there’s still hope.”
“I want to demonstrate that we can play a different game at home.”
There have been 135 goals scored by the Reds this season. But they couldn’t find the net for 45 minutes.
With the finest chance, Mane misdirected a precise cross from Mohamed Salah.
Villarreal goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli escaped punishment after some bad handling from a number of speculative shots, as did the Senegalese, who had a deflected effort go just wide.
Prior to the interval, Liverpool came closest to breaking the deadlock as Thiago Alcantara’s lovely effort sailed just wide of the post.
The six-time European winners started the second half with a quicker tempo and swiftly found holes in Villarreal’s defense.
For offside against Virgil van Dijk in the buildup, Fabinho’s goal was called off. In OKBET sportsbook is the place where you can wager on the major sports in football.
As soon as Rulli’s poor attempt to parry Henderson’s deflected cross was parried, there was a roar from Anfield fans.
However, the visitors were powerless to halt the onslaught of Liverpool strikes that rained down on them.
On 55 minutes, Salah set up Mane’s goal with a brilliantly weighted pass.
Once again, the offside flag saved Villarreal by disallowing Andy Robertson’s goal.
By contrast, Emery was described by Klopp as “the King of Cups”. Following his four victories in the Europa League as Sevilla manager during his first season at Liverpool in 2016.
As a team sitting seventh in La Liga, Liverpool was unable to launch a comeback after falling behind to Atletico Madrid six years ago.
As Liverpool threatened to kill off the tie with a third goal. Luis Diaz smashed a shot across the goal.
The English champions had to settle for a two-goal lead. But in 55 games this season, they have yet to lose by two goals.
