Villarreal (H) - UCL Semi Final 1st leg, Wed 27th Apr 2022 (8:00pm)

[Trumo]

Now we enter the real business end of the Champions League, with a chance to effectively have one foot in the final at the Stade de France in May. Villarreal have almost reached this stage under the radar, though they did beat Juventus and Bayern along the way, so they are no mugs. They are a typical Unai Emery side, mediocre in their domestic league but a results-getting machine in Europe. Emery was Sevilla coach went they won the Europa League three seasons running (we were the victims on the third occasion), and he won it with Villarreal last season, beating the (red) Mancs in the final. He also reached the final with Arsenal in 2019. On paper the opposition always look stronger but he has shown that the game isn’t won on paper. Fortunately we have a manager who is well aware of that, and who has worked tirelessly on forging the right mentality from his players no matter the situation.

 

Gumption. Organisation. Order. Drive. Electricity. Bravery. Effervescence. Nous. Ingenuity. Nerve. Grit.

 

I don’t ask for much.

 

We have only come up against Villarreal twice in our history, and that was in the semi finals of the 2015/16 Europa League, with the winner going on to the final in Basel. The game at Anfield was the second leg in early May 2016, and we began the game 1-0 down on aggregate following a late winner for the Spaniards. Anfield under the lights on a European night is a daunting prospect for any opposition, even if they are coming up against a Liverpool squad still trying to shake off the trauma of the dark final year of the Rodgers era. New boss Klopp had worked wonder to get a talented but flaky squad to the final of the League Cup, and he was aiming for European success too. The reds had defeated his old club Dortmund (led by his successor Thomas Tuchel) in the last round in a match that was one of the great European nights in the club’s illustrious history.

 

Liverpool began with a flurry, and soon levelled the aggregate score when Studge mis-kicked at the far post only for the ball to bounce in off the unfortunate Soriano. Lallana had a chance to make it 2 but missed his kicked after a great ball in from Big Game James. It was in the second half where we began to properly dominate. Studge got his goal and put us ahead in the tie with a scuffed effort that rolled in off a post, and Lallana made sure of victory by turning home after yet another scuffed effort from the initial shot. In between, the visitors were reduced to 10 men after Ruiz got his marching orders following a second yellow for a foul on Phil, and Bobby displayed some outrageous skill to bamboozle ex-Spurs striker Robert Soldado, who’d been in shithouse gobshite mode all night. Probably still traumatised by Flanno’s epic recovery challenge on him a couple of years earlier. We were well worth our place in the final and the chance to claim our 9th continental trophy.

 

 

Early March 2016 saw the latest instalment of the MCU top the box office, and it had the scope of the superhero team-up from a year earlier (The Avengers: Age of Ultron), only this time with a slight twist. Captain America: Civil War introduced audiences to both Tom Holland’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Chadwick Boseman’s T’challa/Black Panther. The basic premise is that while the UN recognises The Avengers as a force for good, it feels they need some checks and balances, at the very least to try and avoid the sort of destruction seen in the events of the previous Avengers team-ups. Tony Stark supports the need for control (he did inadvertently unleash Ultron upon the world after all) whereas Steve Rogers is opposed. This division leads to a rift not just between the two men, but also amongst all the superheroes. They’ll need to pick a side. It got the visuals and the humour typical of the MCU (the humour bit they’ve always done better than the DCU), but there is no ‘big bad’ as such, rather a telling of the effect of division and two sides with differing views on meeting the same goal. It’s not quite like the X-Men franchise when discussing that theme but it does a good job. Kevin Feige’s run as producer has at the very least ensured that the MCU stories are entertaining for audiences.

 

 

By now, the nucleus of this squad is well versed in managing the demands of European football and on paper should be too much for the side from a little town just outside Valencia. However, as I said before, it’s not about what’s on paper but what is out there on the pitch. As I write, I’m not sure if any of our lads are suspended for this game, or which of them are on a yellow. We will require optimum levels of motivation, concentration and application to ensure that there is no room for complacency. We have the tools to put ourselves in a great position for the second leg. Let’s show it.

[Freddo]

These haven’t played since a week last Tuesday as far as I saw so they’ll be fresh and we’ll rested.

The good thing about our lads is we’re better when we play regularly.

Can see two or three changes, let’s get these beat and put them in a tough spot for the return leg. We’d all love to blow these away but they defend well and have proved that versus Juventus and Bayern.

Lets get to Paris and bag number 7.

[Aventus]

Get them spanked and play the rezzies in the 2nd leg. 

 

 

[Creator Supreme]

4-0 to Villarreal (Bert Moron 4).

[AngryOfTuebrook]

It's going to be a bit weird, ending the match with another 90 minutes to go before we know if we've done enough. I've not seen anything of Villarreal this season, so I don't know what to expect. I have seen a lot of Liverpool, though, so I expect us to be switched on and prepared for anything.

 

Just get these beat, Reds.

[The Midnight Rambler]

Alberto is crocked, so won’t see his silly little boat race.

[aRdja]

Rest Thiago, Matip and Robbo.

Alisson; Trent, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Fabinho, Henderson, Keita; Salah, Diaz, Mane

[Jhinge Machha]

Dont think this is going to be easy at all - they will be playing a low block and all men behind the ball with plans to hit us on the counter. Thats how they beat bayern so could be a pretty frustrating night for us too

It all depends on whether we have our shooting boots on cause I am not expecting many chances and its going to be nervy as fuck if we go into the second leg without a nice lead



 

[Barnesey]

Yesterday was a decent practice for Wednesday 

[Pete]

Twat 'em, move on to the next game. 

[VladimirIlyich]

Didn't they once come back from 3-1 down to get a 3-3 draw against us in a CL group game a few years back,when Albert Moron was their best player despite playing for us?

[Anubis]

Get in. Get the three points. Get out.

[House of Dirk]

28 minutes ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Didn't they once come back from 3-1 down to get a 3-3 draw against us in a CL group game a few years back,when Albert Moron was their best player despite playing for us?

That was Sevilla in a group game.

[Creator Supreme]

8 hours ago, The Midnight Rambler said:

Alberto is crocked, so won’t see his silly little boat race.

D'Oh!

[manwiththestick]

8 hours ago, The Midnight Rambler said:

Alberto is crocked, so won’t see his silly little boat race.

He'll probably turn up on the Kop in full kit.

[rubble-rouser]

Ali, Trent, Virgil, Konate, Tsimikas, Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago, Mo, Mané, Diaz

 

 

[Harry Squatter]

They'll play like Everton did yesterday minus the snide behaviour and play with more skill. 

[LFC 6 Times]

This is gonna be tough. Emery teams with the exception of Arsenal are a very tough nut to crack.

 

Expect they’ll play quite similar to Everton yesterday at Atletico at the ethihad. We’ve got to keep our heads, even if it’s 0-0 after 70 we’re still big favourites to go through.

 

Gonna go for: Ali, Trent, Konate, Virgil, Robbo, Fab, Hendo, Thiago, Mo, Sadio, Diaz.

 

A hard fought 2-0 again.

[Salou]

They have some very good players on the break, especially Danjuma who we've been linked to quite a bit pre-Diaz. Will be a tough one but still expect a win at home though don't think it will be a big enough one to take it easy in Leg 2. 

[VladimirIlyich]

12 hours ago, House of Dirk said:

That was Sevilla in a group game.

Ah,right. I knew it was a Spanish team but not who.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

We all need to chip in to get @Trumo a decent, relaxing summer holiday after his efforts this season.

[an tha]

Yet another massive game - European Cup Semis are very, very special - ok this is not one of the "names" but they are here because they have earned their place and if we want to be in the final we will need to be good/very good over the two legs.

 

 

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

On 25/04/2022 at 00:04, aRdja said:

Rest Thiago, Matip and Robbo.

Alisson; Trent, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Fabinho, Henderson, Keita; Salah, Diaz, Mane

Rest no one.

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

Get the job done. Come on.

[VladimirIlyich]

This is a tough game and I'm sure nobody will be underestimating Villareal at the club. Nil nil games are not uncommon at this stage and given the lack of away goals rule I am not sure Villareal will be that keen to chase one. I think scrapping that rule is shite though and has done nothing positive for Euro games.