Liverpool and the level is too high

According to Coach Kloppthis semi-final pair is like a match that just ended the first half, and all outcomes can still appear in the second half. Mr. Klopp emphasized: 2-0 advantage is not a safe distance before the first half. the rest, it is never safe before the second leg on the opponent’s field!

Yes, but the only thing that makes Villarreal still not completely give up hope is that they still have the second leg, and “only have to” reverse the score 2-0. The whole thing that has just been shown at Anfield shows that Liverpool and Villarreal are on two completely different levels. Liverpool is so different from the big names that Villarreal suddenly left the race in the knockout stage of the Champions League. Juventus and Bayern Munich.

Mane (left) scored the goal to make it 2-0 for Liverpool Reuters

According to the scorecards of the website Whoscored.com, all the players above in Liverpool’s main squad (7 – 7.8/10 points) are far ahead of all players in Villarreal’s main squad (from 7 – 7.8/10 points) 5.4 – 6.6/10 points). Not counting Liverpool’s goalkeeper Alisson, of course, simply because he… doesn’t need to work! Villarreal only launched 1 shot, not on target, during the match. No team has ever been so pressed in a Champions League semi-final. The only similar case in terms of numbers, since Opta’s statistics on the number of shots (1 shot, 0 on target), is Inter in the semi-final against Barcelona in 2010. But that’s a different story. Jose Mourinho’s Inter then won Barcelona 3-1 in the first leg and advocated “not playing” in the second leg on the opponent’s field.

All 16 Villarreal players (including 5 people who came on from the bench) made 180 accurate passes. On the Liverpool side, midfielder Thiago Alcantara alone has passed 103 times, exactly 99 times. Not only did he pass short as usual, but he was also dangerous in long passes. And Thiago also hit a long shot that was close to the goal (bouncing the column). According to UEFA statistics, this is a match where Liverpool attacked 95 times, and Villarreal only attacked 15 times!

It must be affirmed: “only” winning 2-0 is an achievement that is not commensurate with superiority Liverpool demonstrated during the overwhelming 90 minutes. In other words, this ratio never accurately reflects the level of Liverpool. Of course, the main reason for the low score is because Villarreal defended relatively resiliently. To score in the second leg, Villarreal must sacrifice the “defensive wall”, and as a result, Liverpool will be easier to attack.

Many people consider Thiago to be the best player of the match. In fact, this is a match where the great Liverpool players play very evenly. Full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold is as brilliant as ever. In attack, Mohamed Salah assisted, Sadio Mane scored, while Luis Diaz had to leave the field in the 81st minute. But it is difficult to say who is better among those three strikers. And even if Liverpool’s opening goal was an own goal by defender Pervis Estupinan, it was still the result of the attacking pressure created by Liverpool’s Thiago and Jordan Henderson.