Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp, who has the chance to win four titles with his “Reds” this season, doesn’t want anything to do with a gmahd’n Wies’n in the semi-finals of the soccer Champions League. “It’s going to be tough, tough, tough. If it weren’t difficult in this phase, something would go wrong,” said the German before today’s home game (9 p.m., ServusTV, Sky, DAZN) against Spanish league seventh FC Villarreal.
Knowing full well that some well-known calibers have already bitten their teeth on the “Yellow Submarine”. In the knockout phase, Juventus initially failed because of the team of European Cup specialist Unai Emery (four titles in the Europa League), then Bayern found no effective recipe.
Klopp deserves respect for these achievements. “Villarreal has perhaps the most successful coach in cup competitions. It’s incredible what he’s doing.” Emery has won no less than 84 percent of his knockout duels in international matches since 2009/10, only ex-Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane (88 percent), who is high in Paris Saint-Germain, has a better record course should stand.
Bad memories
Liverpool FC, who are targeting the third Champions League trophy after 2005 and 2019, remain the big favorites on paper. Mohamed Salah has reached the 30-goal mark this season and wants more. “2019 was an incredible feeling of happiness that I really want to experience again,” emphasized the 29-year-old Egyptian. With Sadio Mane, who has scored 19 goals this season, an ex-Salzburg player could also play a key role in this semi-final at the Anfield Road stadium.
Villarreal don’t have fond memories of the Liverpool home ground. In 2016 there was a 3-0 defeat in the Europa League semi-finals after a 1-0 home win, which sealed the bitter end. Emery was coach of FC Sevilla at the time and was successful against the “Reds” in the final. This should be taken as a warning.
“We’re looking forward to playing a opponent who is in great form. We’ll go against it with all the confidence in the world, together we’re strong,” said Villarreal midfielder Dani Parejo.
A small advantage for the Spaniards, who will be without Yeremy Pino, is that they have been able to prepare for the clash for more than a week as the Spanish championship was on air break at the weekend for the cup final.
Liverpool, on the other hand, played in Sunday’s Merseyside derby against relegation contenders Everton and won 2-0. Divock Origi scored as a “joker”, which shows that the bench also has a lot of quality.
Source: Nachrichten
