The "yellow submarine" against the city of the Beatles.

After a first Anglo-Spanish shock between Manchester City and Real Madrid, it is the turn of Liverpool and Villarreal to face each other, Wednesday, April 27, in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

The Spanish team, coached by Unaï Emery, is a surprise guest in the last four.

However, the Basque coach has proven that he knows how to sublimate his teams for major European events.

In the position of the challenger

On paper, Villarreal, currently seventh in La Liga, is indeed the weakest of the four still in contention.

Opposite, Liverpool, second in the Premier League just one point behind Manchester City, is even a scarecrow.

The report is on paper unbalanced but this position of challenger undoubtedly suits Emery, quadruple winner of the Europa League (three coronations with Sevilla, one with Villarreal).

However, he knows how to show his teeth when necessary, refusing the status of "nice" Tom Thumb.

"We are not here to be said that we are nice, that we are friendly, a small village like that of Asterix and Obelix", had launched the Spanish coach after having eliminated Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.

"We have a very solid, very stable project, with the Roig family for many years, a club that has played semi-finals in the past (...) Our goal before this match was not to give a good image of us was to qualify."

Unai Emery will play his 7th European semi-final as a coach 🏆 pic.twitter.com/qAKHB5WazX

— Late Football Club (@LateFootClub) April 25, 2022

Unai Emery's reputation is second to none in major European dates.

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% that only Zinédine Zidane, with 14 out of 16 (88%), competes .

Unloved Coach

Despite his impeccable service, Unaï Emery's reputation remains tainted by his spells at PSG and the end of his fishtail story at Arsenal.

On the side of Paris, he remained the one who officiated at the time of the humiliating "remontada" suffered against Barcelona in 2017 (4-0, 1-6).

The following year, he also failed in the round of 16 at Real Madrid (1-2, 1-3).

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.

But he never recovered from a totally failed end to the season which saw the Londoners finish fifth and fall 4-1 in the Champions League final to Chelsea, missing out on Champions League qualification the following season.

Return to favor at Villarreal

Since then, Emery has gone to recharge his batteries in Spain, a country where he spent his entire career as a player and then began his career as a coach, and in particular won three consecutive Europa Leagues with Sevilla FC.

In 2021, he added an additional C3 to his list in 2021 with Villareal, dominating Arsenal in the semi-finals and Manchester United in the final.

This new victory in his favorite competition opened the doors to the Champions League.

After breaking out of a group that included Manchester United and Atlanta Bergamo, Unaï Emery's men were the killers of two European leaders: Juventus Turin then Bayern Munich.

𝘽𝙪𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙨 𝙣𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤 𝙡𝙪𝙜𝙖𝙧 𝙚𝙣 𝙡𝙖 💛 💛.#Ucl pic.twitter.com/0epcqfysx

— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) April 26, 2022

This epic recalls that of 2005-2006 in the small Spanish town of 50,000 inhabitants.

That season, Villarreal, a novice in the Champions League, had climbed to the semi-finals, carried by Diego Forlan and Juan Roman Riquelme, before failing on a penalty missed by the latter in the last minute of the match. comeback against Arsenal.

Sixteen years later, the heroes have changed their names.

They are called Arnaut Danjuma, Gerard Moreno, Giovani Lo Celso, or even Raul Albiol.

But yellow fever is still the same.

And it is the whole football planet that succumbs to the story of this Petit Poucet dressed in gold who came to shake up the hierarchy of the continent, who will want to extend his dream in the semi-finals.

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