Liverpool were very scared, but at the final whistle the most important thing is there: their ticket to the Champions League final is validated.

Led 2-0 at the break, the English club, at first unrecognizable, woke up in the second period and managed to qualify on Tuesday at Villarreal (3-2, first leg: 2-0), despite the resistance displayed by the modest Spanish club led by Unai Emery.

Surprised from the start by a goal from Dia, then just before the break by a header from Coquelin (41st), Jurgen Klopp's men replied when they returned from the locker room, with three goals signed Fabinho (62nd), Diaz (67th), and Mané (74th), on a hazardous exit from Rulli.

The Reds will know their opponent in the final on Wednesday, May 28 at the Stade de France: Manchester City, winner 4-3 in an epic first leg, travels to the Santiago-Bernabéu at 9 p.m. to face the King of Spain. Europe, Real Madrid and its thirteen continental crowns.

Diaz's defining entrance

But what a fright!

The ogre Liverpool, announced arch-favorite of this double confrontation against the modest "Yellow Submarine", therefore wavered in the wet cauldron of the Ceramica for 45 minutes, before establishing its superiority on returning from the locker room.

The entry of Diaz, who replaced Jota in the 46th, was decisive: the Colombian immediately brought danger in front of Rulli's cages, and scored the second goal for the Reds.

A winning bet therefore for Klopp, who could only see from the bench the inferiority of his team in the first period.

Because the Spanish family club from an average town of 50,000 inhabitants, however modest it may be, has always believed in its chances of a final.

Witness the “Si se puede!”

"("If, it's possible") chanted by the Ceramica stadium even before kick-off, and which redoubled in intensity during the first goal signed Dia on a nice delivery from his French compatriot Etienne Capoue, author of two assists but who will end up excluded in the 86th after a second yellow card.

After resisting Manchester United in the group stages, and after knocking out Juventus Turin and Bayern Munich in the knockout stage, the men in yellow almost snagged a new big fish on their roster.

But the epic ends there.

As in 2005-2006, when Villarreal had reached the last four of the C1 for its first participation in the competition before falling against Arsenal (1-0, 0-0), the course is stopped one step from the final in 2022.

Objective: a historic quadruple

Liverpool can still be described as unsinkable, after this incredible turnaround which saved them from a resounding disappointment in the second period.

Thanks to this ticket for the Stade de France, the English club is still in the running for a historic quadruple, with a League Cup already acquired, the FA Cup, the championship and the Champions League.

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