Liverpool kick on after sluggish start
Liverpool players stared at each other in disbelief. By the bench, manager Jurgen Klopp watched in awe.
Just like that, Liverpool had squandered their two-goal lead from the first leg of the Champions League semifinals against Villarreal, and their spot in the final was suddenly in jeopardy.
Would Liverpool be the latest powerhouse to be stunned by the modest Spanish club? Would their bid for a seventh European title end in disappointment?
Luckily for the English club, it was only a scare.
Liverpool rallied in the second half to beat Villarreal 3-2 and reach their third Champions League final in five seasons yesterday to advance 5-2 on aggregate.
‘‘You could see how impressed we were with them in the first half,’’ said Klopp. ‘‘To come back and win in the second is really impressive.’’
After Boulaye Dia and Francis Coquelin put Villarreal ahead by the 41st minute, Fabinho, substitute Luis Diaz and Sadio Mane scored in the second half to propel Liverpool into the final for the first time since winning their sixth European title in 2019.
Based in a city of 50,000 people in southern Spain, Villarreal had eliminated Juventus in the round of 16 and Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals.
Liverpool will play the May 28 final in Paris against either Premier League rivals Manchester City or 13-time European champions Real Madrid. They will meet in Madrid today with City defending a 4-3 win from the first leg in England.
The victory also keeps alive Liverpool’s hopes of a ‘‘quadruple’’ – winning all four major trophies in one season.
The visitors were dominant in the first leg but looked lost in the first half as Villarreal came out pressing early. Villarreal won almost every 50-50 ball and stayed near the Liverpool area without allowing space for counterattacks.
It didn’t take long for Villarreal to cut into the first-leg deficit as Dia opened the scoring from close range after a pass by Capoue in the third minute. Later in the half, they got a second goal with a header by former Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin into the top corner after a well-placed right-flank cross by Capoue.
Liverpool improved significantly in the second half. They came close when Trent AlexanderArnold’s shot deflected off a defender and hit the crossbar in the 55th, and they got the first goal came in the 62nd with a low shot by Fabinho that went through the legs of goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.
Liverpool took advantage of Villarreal’s letdown and Diaz, who helped turn the game around after entering the match at halftime, equalised with a 67th-minute header. Mane got the go-ahead goal on a breakaway in the 74th after getting past Rulli outside the area and shooting into an open net to seal their place in the final.