GREAT ESCAPE
Liverpool fight back from brink of disaster...and they’re off to the final. Now can City join them?
DOMINIC KING at the Estadio de la Ceramica
LIVERPOOL climbed off the floor to reach their 10th European Cup final with a comeback that Jurgen Klopp insisted had shades of Barcelona in 2019.
The Reds will line up against Real Madrid or Manchester City on May 28 after a 3-2 win in Villarreal gave them a 5-2 aggregate victory. After going 2-0 down on the night, goals from Fabinho, Luis Diaz and Sadio Mane sent them to Paris.
Klopp said: ‘The whole world was watching and expecting 2-0 to become 3-0. But when we played through them for the first time and
got into the half-spaces, I knew we
had a chance. I don’t like to compare but, yes, it was like Barcelona and the other games.
‘What did I say to them at half-time? Play better than the first half! We just had to stay calm. What can I say now? The one chance to win a final is to get there.’
Klopp, who has now reached his fourth Champions League final, added: ‘I am delighted. It feels like the first one. This is the best competition in the world.
‘I absolutely love it and I love what Villarreal did here with the crowd pushing them on.’
Liverpool were trailing 2-0 at the break and it looked very much like their pursuit of the Quadruple was going to end. As it was, Klopp made some tweaks, introducing Diaz for the struggling Diogo Jota, and they took off.
The Reds came back from the dead against Barcelona three years ago and did the same against Borussia Dortmund in the 2016 Europa League quarter-finals but both those games were at Anfield, which is why last night’s achievement meant so much to Klopp.
Liverpool will play every possible game in the football calendar this season and Fabinho, the man who started the comeback, said: ‘I think their team gave everything in the first half.
‘We knew the first 15-20 minutes would be really important. They scored first and their fans felt it. They were supporting them and cheering for them, so it was hard for us. But we had to try to play football and I think we did in the second half.
‘We scored three goals and we could have scored four.’
Villarreal finished with 10 men after Etienne Capoue was sent off but manager Unai Emery said: ‘We can be happy because of the way we were. But when you lose you are still sad.
‘Liverpool deserve to play the final because at Anfield we didn’t play as we should have. The difference between the first and the second legs was the difference.’
Last night was the first time that Liverpool have won the away leg of a European Cup semi-final since 1985 — when they beat Panathinaikos 1-0 in Athens.
Klopp’s side will now turn their attentions back to the Premier League and the visit of Tottenham on Saturday.