It was quite the dull match at Villarreal’s El Madrigal stadium for both Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and Marcelino’s Villarreal until Adrian Lopez scored a late winner for The Yellow Submarines and gave his team a slim advantage over Liverpool in the first leg of the semi-finals of the Europa League.
Pressure was on Liverpool going into this fixture with the absence of key players such as Divock Origi and Mamadou Sakho, who were both crucial in their previous matches but Liverpool were not to be considered the underdogs following their fantastic comeback against Dortmund in the second leg.
Both teams looked desperately for a goal after a couple of good chances from each team but it was Villarreal in the end who snatched one in the 90th minute thanks to a great cross by Denis Suarez to set Adrian Lopez to tap in a goal at the end of a quick counter.
Despite the minor advantage the Spanish club now takes to Anfield in the second leg, this tie may perhaps be poised for another fantastic comeback by Liverpool at home in a week’s time.
Here are the five crucial talking points from this clash :
Sturridge not being brought on
It came as a surprise when Liverpool’s starting line-up didn’t have Daniel Sturridge on there and was instead in the subs. It was a big call for Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp to leave him out considering his recent form. Klopp himself explained it being a “difficult decision” but in the end decided for a little bit more stability and thus picked Roberto Firmino due to his familiarity with the system he intended to use, i.e., 4-3-3/4-5-1 or a diamond.
Sturridge would have done the obvious things for Liverpool - stretched the Villarreal defence vertically and threatened the goal thanks to his pace (even though Villarreal didn't leave much space at all).
It would have made the Yellow Submarines more cautious and perhaps Liverpool would have scored that priceless away goal they needed with his movement. Bringing him on in the second half when Villarreal wanted to attack more was something every Liverpool supporter was looking towards and probably would have been wise but Klopp seemed happy with his game plan.
Klopp will most definitely start Sturridge in the second leg as Liverpool will need to go on an all attack mode if they want hope of progressing to the finals.
The Villarreal defence was brilliant
Going into this fixture, Villarreal were expected to be the one with the upper hand based on their recent form. Their defence was the main topic of interest and they certainly lived up to those expectations.
Villarreal have the third best defence in La Liga, after all. With their trusted back four of Mario, Bailly, Ruiz and Costa, Villarreal put up another solid defence performance. Throughout the game, they stayed compact, particularly in the first half.
The defensive work of midfielder Pina stopped Liverpool from opening up the Yellow Submarines on numerous occasions. Bailly and Ruiz were rocks throughout, never being dragged from their position by Roberto Firmino. Pina, on the other hand also knew exactly when to drop with the two centre-backs to block space for Liverpool to attack and create holes.
Liverpool need to go all out scoring at Anfield in the second leg but with this defence of Villarreal, they’ll need to come up with a seriously good game plan, though it’ll be hard for the Spanish club to stop Liverpool from scoring for another 90 minutes.
The Liverpool defence was commendable
Liverpool supporters were suddenly uncertain of the strength of their defence with the absence of quarter-final hero Mamadou Sakho, who has been so crucial in the last few matches for Liverpool.
It was time for Dejan Lovren and Kolo Toure to strike up an instant understanding to stop Villarreal’s dangerous Bakambu and Soldado, and they did exactly that throughout the match (well at least until 90 minutes).
Full-backs Clyne and Moreno chose carefully when to stay back and overlap and never attacked at the same time, always keeping a three-man defence.
Lucas Leiva did a fine job stifling the dangerous Denis Suarez and Dos Santos throughout. His tactical sense in where to close the spaces to stop Villarreal attacking through the middle was paramount for Liverpool to stay in the tie.
The Villarreal attack have caused damage to many teams this season with their razor sharp counter-attacking play but Liverpool manager Klopp got it spot on from a defensive point of view. Lovren and Toure kept in line with each other, not being fooled by the potential of Soldado to pull them apart with clever play.
If these two can play like this in the second leg with a more shaped Liverpool attack, it’s tempting to say that Liverpool can stop Villarreal from scoring that away goal.
Divock Origi was thoroughly missed
Liverpool were not only at a disadvantage with the absence of Mamadou Sakho but also their in-form striker Divock Origi who was injured by Funes Mori during the Merseyside Derby.
Divock Origi was the biggest absentee in this semi-final tie. This occasion was set up perfectly for the young Belgian, as his pace and power would have been the perfect components for this Liverpool team to attack in a more dynamic, lethal and unpredictable sense. Origi’s clever vertical runs are dangerous to stretch even the tightest of defences which Villarreal have.
Origi allows Liverpool to play a deeper line; this tactic forces teams to bring their line forward letting Coutinho work his magic with deadly passes. His absence was evident in Liverpool getting no goal in this leg but Liverpool will have to bring their A-game in attacking in the next despite Origi being out for that as well.
A good result for Villarreal to take to Anfield
Villarreal eventually looked like they wouldn’t get a goal just like Liverpool wouldn’t be able to snatch one but they got lucky and got a late winner by Adrian Lopez.
The result meant that Villarreal do not have to attack a lot in the next leg unless they go a goal or two down. Sturridge will likely be very isolated and Liverpool will have to be patient to open the yellow submarines up. Scoring in this match was more of Liverpool’s concern since that precious away goal counts so much.
Despite not being able to get that, it’s going to be game on at Anfield, keeping in mind the comeback Liverpool made against Dortmund at Anfield and scored four goals to win. It’s unrealistic to think that Villarreal will not score at Anfield, based on how impressive Liverpool’s defence was today, one goal in the second leg for the Spanish side might be all they can hope for.
Liverpool will most likely again need to secure 3-4 goals to win. It’ll be a brilliant second leg at Anfield with those incredibly loud Liverpool supporters, that’s for sure.
