Liverpool vs Villarreal20:00, Wednesday 27th AprilAnfield, LiverpoolUEFA Champions League – Semi Final, First LegReferee: Szymon Marciniak (POL)Fresh from a week in which Liverpool beat their closest competitors, their fiercest rivals, and their city neighbours, Champions League football returns this week – the Reds host Villarreal at Anfield for the first leg of the Semi Final, before travelling to Castellón next Tuesday. Villarreal have been managed by Unai Emery since the summer of 2020 – the Spaniard is something of a European specialist, adding last year’s Europa League victory to a hat-trick of competition wins with Sevilla in 2014, ’15, & ’16. Emery’s Sevilla beat Liverpool in the 2016 final, and he since faced the Reds four times as Arsenal manager – his Gunners held the Reds to a draw each in the Premier League and League Cup, whilst also falling to 5-1 and 3-1 league defeats across 2018-19 and 2019-20.The sides have met only twice in competitive fixtures in the past, contesting a Europa League Semi Final back in Jurgen Klopp’s first season as Liverpool manager, in 2015-16. An injury time winner courtesy of Adrian saw Marcelino’s Villarreal take a 1-0 lead into the 2nd leg, but the Reds overpowered their opponents at Anfield and secured a 3-0 victory in which goals from Daniel Sturridge & Adam Lallana followed a Bruno Soriano own goal. A number of players have represented both sides – Jose Enrique spent a season with El Submarino Amarillo before moving to the Premier League, Pepe Reina & Jan Kromkamp both joined Liverpool from Villarreal (with Josemi going the other way as part of the deal for the latter). Yet another full-back, Alberto Moreno has spent the last three seasons with Villarreal, following his five years on Merseyside (incidentally, I’ve often thought that the 2017-18 Champions League Final might have played out rather differently had Moreno been our chosen substitute when we were forced to replace Mo Salah!).Having been first promoted to La Liga in 1998, dropping out twice since for just a single season each, Villarreal are well-established top-flight club who – with all due respect – consistently punch well above their weight. They’ve finished in the top six positions on thirteen occasions, and regularly qualify for the knockout rounds of European competitions. This season represents their fourth Champions League campaign (not including 2016-17, when they lost their qualifying playoff), with Manuel Pellegrini’s Villarreal losing out to Arsenal in both the 2005-06 Semi Final and the 2008-09 Quarter Final. Despite finishing outside of the qualification positions in La Liga last season, Unai Emery’s side beat Manchester United 11-10 on penalties in last season’s Europe League Final in order to secure their place in this season’s Champions League.Villarreal were bettered by United in this seasons group stage, losing twice to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side – a pair of wins again Young Boys, and a crucial final-matchday victory over Atalanta saw them progress to the knockout rounds however. Meeting Juventus is a daunting challenge for any club, regardless of La Vecchia Signora’s current period of transition – after holding the Italian giants to a 1-1 draw at home in the 1st leg, the 2nd leg in Turin was heading towards extra time before Villarreal stunned their hosts with three late goals to win 3-0. Bayern Munich represented an even bigger obstacle in the Quarter Final – a surprise 1-0 win in the 1st leg gave Villarreal something to hold on to heading to Germany, and extra time was again a prospect after Robert Lewandowski had levelled the tie early in the second half. Nigerian winger Samuel Chukwueze netted a late equaliser, however, earning Villarreal a shock 2-1 aggregate victory over the six time & 2019-20 European Champions.Whilst certainly able to take a great of confidence from their victories over Juventus and Bayern Munich – as well as from last season’s Europa League win – Villarreal have rather struggled for form of late. A strong winter period saw them recover from a disappointing first half of the season, but three defeats & a draw in five matches during March & early-April threatened to undermine the hard work. Back-to-back victories against Getafe & Valencia appear to have steadied things for Emery’s side again, keeping alive their chances of a top six finish – the penultimate day meeting with Real Sociedad (who currently lead Villarreal by 3 points) is likely to be crucial, whilst Sevilla & Barcelona likely having very little left to play for by the time those two tough fixtures come around may also present opportunity. Goals have largely been spread around the squad this season, with forwards Gerard Moreno & Arnaut Danjuma achieving double-figures, but Villarreal are reasonably tight at the back and will hope that the solidity of Raul Albiol & Pau Torres will guide them towards a successful end to the season.Liverpool are of course in fine form and challenging on all fronts heading into the final weeks of the season, as attention once again turns to European football. Having taken maximum points from the Group Stage, Jurgen Klopp’s side progressed beyond the respective challenges of Internazionale & Benfica and – having come through the unique challenges posed by Everton – head into the Semi Final with Roberto Firmino the only slight injury concern. At an earlier stage of the season, a trip to Newcastle might have seemed like something of a gimmee to Liverpool – their January signings make Saturday a more complicated prospect, however, and Klopp will likely need to exercise the strength & depth of his squad to negotiate another busy week. It is nevertheless good to have such complications to consider at this stage of the season.Cheers to royhendo for bringing this week's fantastic match programme cover to my attention:
Well that was a pretty special YNWA.
94 Corner to us. Last kick. Ali in the box and he’s scored
Trent is really deep.
To cover the break I reckon.
27 We get a free kick after Coquelin fouls Trent. A good position. Not good fired into the wall.
