On paper, the Spanish team, 7th in La Liga, is the weakest of the four still in contention and facing the 2nd in the Premier League, only one point behind Manchester City, the balance of power seems unbalanced.

A position that undoubtedly suits Emery, quadruple winner of the Europa League (3 coronations with Sevilla, 1 with Villarreal) whose reputation is second to none as soon as European competitions reach the cut-off matches.

Over the last twelve seasons, the Basque has qualified his team in 31 of the 37 knockout matches in C1 and C3, a success rate of 84% than only Zinédine Zidane, with 14 out of 16 (88%).

Villarreal coach Unai Emery supervising training on April 26, 2022 in Villarreal JOSE JORDAN AFP/Archives

Many, however, thought that his stints at Paris SG, marked in particular by the humiliating "rebound" suffered against Barcelona, ​​and at Arsenal had perhaps broken his magic.

At the Gunners, he had a very promising start in 2018/2019, with a series of 22 matches without defeat, a third place seven days from the end and a Europa League final to play.

Newcastle Temptation

But he had never recovered from a completely failed end to the season which saw the Londoners finish 5th and fall 4-1 in the C3 final against Chelsea, missing out on qualification for the Champions League the following season.

Emery has since rejuvenated at Villarreal.

He snatched a ticket for the C1 by winning the last Europa League after dominating Arsenal in the semi-finals and Manchester United in the final.

However, he harbors no grudge against England, where he remains very popular.

At the beginning of November, he had seriously considered leaving Villarreal in the middle of the season to join Newcastle.

"The Premier League is attractive to all coaches. So when Newcastle called me, I thought a lot about this opportunity to return to England, in a serious project," he admitted earlier this month in an interview with The Athletic.

A mural of Jurgen Klopp, the iconic Liverpool coach, near Anfield Road stadium, April 24, 2022 in Liverpool Paul ELLIS AFP / Archives

Any outsider he may be, he will be able to look his alter ego from Liverpool in the eye, whom he meets regularly in seminars organized by UEFA.

"Now, when I go to these meetings, it's not the same as when I greeted Platini with a shaking hand (at his debut). Now, when I find myself among Klopp, Guardiola, Pellegrini, Zidane, I feel that I am also a figure in the world of football," he told Marca at the end of March.

"Hard, hard, hard, hard"

"Hard, hard, hard, hard," Klopp replied when asked what he thought of the prospect of facing Villarreal in the semi-finals.

"Anyone who eliminates Juve and then Bayern deserves to be in the semi-finals. They are very good and have an extremely experienced coach who is the king of these cups, it's amazing what Unai is doing," he added.

The German is well placed to find out: the first meeting between the two men having turned to the advantage of Emery, then at the head of Sevilla, with a stunning victory (3-1) in the final of the C3 2016 against Liverpool where Klopp had just arrived.

Against Emery's Arsenal, Klopp had regained the upper hand with 2 wins and 1 draw in the league and a completely crazy match in the Coupe de la Ligue where, trailing 3-1, the Reds had snatched a 5-5 draw in time additional before winning on penalties.

Undefeated for 10 matches, the Reds are currently on a breakneck pace in the three competitions where they can still claim final victory.

They will be aiming for their third C1 final in 5 years against Villarreal.

But in the city of the Beatles, beware of the "Yellow Submarine"...

© 2022 AFP