Liverpool 3-0 Villarreal (agg: 3-1): Jurgen Klopp's stars shine at Anfield as Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana fire Reds into Europa League final
The ball struck the inside of goalkeeper Alphonse Areola’s leg, the inside of the post, rolled along the goal-line and finally took the smallest right turn into the net.
They used to say The Kop sucked goals in at Anfield, but this was at the opposite end. Maybe there are other forces at work in this of all years.
Daniel Sturridge sprinted off towards the corner flag in joy and no little vindication. Excluded from the first leg, here he was with the goal that would propel Liverpool to their 12th major European final, in Basle on May 18.
Suddenly, the Europa League did not look much like the inconsequential consolation prize of popular imagination.
Thursday night, Channel 5. Remember that? Try the Champions League, next season.
That is what will be at stake when Liverpool meet Sevilla, the winners of the previous two editions.
Lift the trophy, and as a bonus Jurgen Klopp could then lead Liverpool into the world’s most prestigious and lucrative club competition in his first fragment of a season. What an achievement that would be.
Klopp has reached two major finals, the League Cup being the other, in his first seven months at the club. No other Liverpool manager can claim such an immediate impact.
And Liverpool have done it the hard way, throughout. Not just by having to chase games, but with the passage they have been given by UEFA’s little plastic balls.
In the last three rounds they have been paired with the toughest opponents every time. Manchester United, simply for the emotional charge of the fixture, then Borussia Dortmund, now Villarreal.
English clubs have a dismal record against La Liga opponents of late, but Liverpool swept them off the park, overturning a 1-0 deficit from last week and overwhelming them, physically and technically, too.
They were the better side in every aspect — but most strikingly in terms of athleticism and ferocious commitment.
This was everything Manchester City in the Bernabeu on Wednesday was not.
Liverpool were ahead after only seven minutes, which levelled the aggregate score and took much of the tension out of the occasion, but Sturridge’s goal was the clincher, even if a third from Adam Lallana made certain of victory.
Villarreal did not know what had hit them. Not so much in terms of the Anfield atmosphere — they have noisy grounds in Spain, too — but when faced with the rolling ball of pure red fury that is Klopp’s Liverpool.
At no time did the home team look like losing this and beyond the fifth minute it is hard to recall an intervention Simon Mignolet was required to make.
The ball struck the inside of goalkeeper Alphonse Areola’s leg, the inside of the post, rolled along the goal-line and finally took the smallest right turn into the net.
They used to say The Kop sucked goals in at Anfield, but this was at the opposite end. Maybe there are other forces at work in this of all years.
Daniel Sturridge sprinted off towards the corner flag in joy and no little vindication. Excluded from the first leg, here he was with the goal that would propel Liverpool to their 12th major European final, in Basle on May 18.
Suddenly, the Europa League did not look much like the inconsequential consolation prize of popular imagination.
Thursday night, Channel 5. Remember that? Try the Champions League, next season.
That is what will be at stake when Liverpool meet Sevilla, the winners of the previous two editions.
Lift the trophy, and as a bonus Jurgen Klopp could then lead Liverpool into the world’s most prestigious and lucrative club competition in his first fragment of a season. What an achievement that would be.
Klopp has reached two major finals, the League Cup being the other, in his first seven months at the club. No other Liverpool manager can claim such an immediate impact.
And Liverpool have done it the hard way, throughout. Not just by having to chase games, but with the passage they have been given by UEFA’s little plastic balls.
In the last three rounds they have been paired with the toughest opponents every time. Manchester United, simply for the emotional charge of the fixture, then Borussia Dortmund, now Villarreal.
English clubs have a dismal record against La Liga opponents of late, but Liverpool swept them off the park, overturning a 1-0 deficit from last week and overwhelming them, physically and technically, too.
They were the better side in every aspect — but most strikingly in terms of athleticism and ferocious commitment.
This was everything Manchester City in the Bernabeu on Wednesday was not.
Liverpool were ahead after only seven minutes, which levelled the aggregate score and took much of the tension out of the occasion, but Sturridge’s goal was the clincher, even if a third from Adam Lallana made certain of victory.
Villarreal did not know what had hit them. Not so much in terms of the Anfield atmosphere — they have noisy grounds in Spain, too — but when faced with the rolling ball of pure red fury that is Klopp’s Liverpool.
At no time did the home team look like losing this and beyond the fifth minute it is hard to recall an intervention Simon Mignolet was required to make.
MATCH FACTS
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Mignolet 7; Clyne 7, Lovren 8.5, Toure 7, Moreno 7; Can 8, Milner 8; Lallana 8, Coutinho 7 (Allen 82), Firmino 9 (Benteke (89); Sturridge 8.5 (Lucas 90)
Subs not used: Ward, Ibe, Skrtel, Smith
Booked: Clyne
Goals: Soriano 7 (OG), Sturridge 63, Lallana 81
Manager: Klopp 8
Villarreal (4-4-2): Areola 5; Gaspar 6, Musacchio 6, Ruiz 6, Costa 6; Dos Santos 7 (Bonera 73min, 6), Pina 5 (Trigueros 60, 6), Soriano 6, Suarez 6; Soldado 4 (Adrian 68, 6), Bakumbu 7
Subs not used: Samu, Castillejo, Rukavina
Booked: Ruiz, Soldado, Suarez
Sent off: Ruiz
Manager: Marcelino 6
MOTM: Firmino
Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary) 6.5
Attendance: 43,074
Ratings by Dominic King
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Mignolet 7; Clyne 7, Lovren 8.5, Toure 7, Moreno 7; Can 8, Milner 8; Lallana 8, Coutinho 7 (Allen 82), Firmino 9 (Benteke (89); Sturridge 8.5 (Lucas 90)
Subs not used: Ward, Ibe, Skrtel, Smith
Booked: Clyne
Goals: Soriano 7 (OG), Sturridge 63, Lallana 81
Manager: Klopp 8
Villarreal (4-4-2): Areola 5; Gaspar 6, Musacchio 6, Ruiz 6, Costa 6; Dos Santos 7 (Bonera 73min, 6), Pina 5 (Trigueros 60, 6), Soriano 6, Suarez 6; Soldado 4 (Adrian 68, 6), Bakumbu 7
Subs not used: Samu, Castillejo, Rukavina
Booked: Ruiz, Soldado, Suarez
Sent off: Ruiz
Manager: Marcelino 6
MOTM: Firmino
Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary) 6.5
Attendance: 43,074
Ratings by Dominic King
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