Jurgen Klopp did not punch after Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Villarreal, as he said it was “only half time”, although his team has a huge advantage.
After the first semi-final without goals in the first semi-final of the Champions League, Pervis Estupinan’s own goal in the 53rd minute led to a breakthrough before Sadio Mane added a second just two minutes later to take the lead.
Speaking afterwards, Klopp was pleased with the performance of his players. “The way we played, the way we defended very well, the way we attacked very well. We had to score goals. It was clear that we had to move on.
“Villarreal, at a time when they can get out of the press, they are an immediate threat. If we don’t win the ball there, we’re in between. We’ve done well most of the time.”
His mood was anything but triumphant, although the Liverpool boss knows he has 90 minutes to go in Spain.
“Two – zero in total, but this is the halftime. No more, no less.
“Nothing has happened yet. If you’re playing a game and you’re 2-0 at halftime, you have to be 100 percent alert. We know that we will go there and it will be a difficult atmosphere for us. If they beat us 2-0 there and go to the final, they deserve it.
“If they don’t, we deserve it.”
Emery: Liverpool will suffer more in Spain
Villarreal boss Unai Emery, whose only win in seven attempts over Klopp came when he led Sevilla for the Europa League final in 2016, admitted that his team escaped with a two-goal defeat, but believes that in the rematch Liverpool will be under more pressure.
He said: “We can’t say anything about the victory because they deserve it. The first half was really good for us.
“They had two or three chances to score. But the second half was the same and they pressed and deserved to score. 2: 0 is a good difference for them. For us, this is not a good result, but we will dream of doing something in our home with our supporters. Next week’s match will be very different from tonight.
“It’s very important to change something next week in our home, maybe tactically. I think next week in our home they will suffer more.”
The other matches of Liverpool
April 30 – Newcastle United
May 3 – Villarreal (a), rematch of the semifinals of the Champions League
May 7 – Tottenham (h)
May 10 – Aston Villa, live on Sky Sports
May 14 – Chelsea (n), FA Cup final
May 17 – Southampton, live on Sky Sports
May 22 – Wolves (h)
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