Is it back to an English duel in the final of the football Champions League? Things are looking good for Liverpool at least before today’s second leg at Villarreal (9 p.m., Servus TV), as the “Reds” took a 2-0 lead from the first leg to Spain. Manchester City are visiting Real Madrid tomorrow (first leg 4:3).
Liverpool are the only team in Europe with the chance to create an unprecedented quadruple: after winning the League Cup, the FA Cup, Championship and Champions League trophies are still within reach. “We’re excited. I love this team,” said coach Jürgen Klopp. “It’s an encouraging situation but the number of games we have left is a lot.” Liverpool’s 1-0 win set a club record, their 44th of the season. In the Premier League, 40 out of a possible 42 points were scored, in the 14 games in this period there was only one point loss with the 2-2 loss at rival Manchester City in April. The last defeat in the league so far happened on December 28, 2021 against Leicester. There was only one more after that, losing 1-0 to Inter Milan in the Champions League round of 16 second leg, but that was irrelevant to progression.
Perhaps another record will be set today: Liverpool are two goals short of a best-ever tally of 138 goals (1985/1986). Winter signing Luis Diaz went all out, giving Klopp one more option alongside Sadio Mané, Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, Divock Origi, Roberto Firmino and Takumi Minamino. Ex-Salzburger Mane contributed 20 goals, although he now gets more breaks. Mane: “The competition between us is the best you can imagine because we are good friends.”
Source: Nachrichten
