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Villarreal had been able to annul two giants like Juventus and Bayern, but this time it was him who faded away at Anfield.
Unai Emery's team leaves Liverpool alive but with a tough mountain to climb for the second leg, forced to come back from two goals after a game in which it was annulled by Jurgen Klopp's team.
The people from Castellón practically did not exist in attack, subdued by a rival whose intensity is difficult to bear.
Nor did they show this time the solidity that made them emerge gracefully from the two previous qualifiers.
The goals from
Estupiñán
, an own goal, and
Mané
were the lesser evil for a team that will need to sign their greatest feat to be in their first Champions League final (2-0).
Liverpool knew how to annul Villarreal from the start.
He wasn't even allowing
Rulli
to start the game short, with his trident pressing high up and
Henderson
keeping a close eye on
Parejo
.
Forced to play long, Emery's team had a hard time putting together five passes and the ball lasted a sigh before the English push.
He missed more presence of
Capoue
and Parejo, also the omnipresence of
Lo Celso
, who was placed on the sideline so that
Chukwueze would be
Danjuma
's companion
in attack.
Fabinho
and
Thiago
won the game against the yellow core and from there the net game flowed, looking especially for the bands.
On the right, the additions of
Alexander-Arnold
almost always ended up in centers to the area.
Luis Díaz
, on the other hand, sought to get inside and outline himself to hit the door.
The greatest danger was generated, however, by Mané's unchecking in the center.
His was the first big chance, forced heading a shipment from Salah.
The harassment of Klopp's team became suffocating at the stroke of half an hour, with Rulli and his defense barely plugging the leaks, unable to escape the strong pressure from Liverpool.
The English did not need much to plant themselves in the area.
With only three touches,
Salah
had a great opportunity that went over the crossbar after Alexander-Arnold first crossed a shot from behind by
Thiago
.
The precision of the Spanish-Brazilian playing long allows the English not to give up their vertical football and add to their palette the pause that the Spanish international also knows how to give.
His was also the best chance of the first half, with a shot from thirty meters that crashed into the post.
Salah's assist
Villarreal's resistance did not last much longer against a Liverpool that was pressing more and more but that needed a bit of fortune to break the Castellón resistance.
A center from Henderson touched Estupiñán and was poisoned until it ended up in the net despite Rulli's desperate attempt.
The goal further fueled the Anfield bonfire and the momentum of Klopp's team.
Only two minutes later Mané picked up a shipment from Salah to make the second.
Liverpool was unleashed against a Villarreal who at that point was interested in minimizing the damage.
Robertson
had a goal disallowed
after finishing a shot into the area offside and Luis Díaz missed another cross shot by inches.
Even
Van Dijk
wanted to join the party with a sharp shot from the front that Rulli took with difficulty.
Emery wanted to change the inertia by which the game was slipping with a triple substitution, putting
Trigueros
among others to try to hold on a ball that his team was barely smelling.
But it's hard to stop a team like Liverpool when he picks up the pace.
He also ran the risk of making things easier for the English if he exposed himself too much in search of a goal that would make Tuesday's second leg less uphill, where he will need the best version of him to make history.
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