The imprint of coach Klopp helped Liverpool sink the ‘Golden Submarine’ Villarreal

In the Champions League semi-final second leg against Liverpool At dawn on May 4, Villarreal only took 45 minutes to prove why this team had eliminated them all Juventus and Bayern Munich to participate in the round of 4 strongest teams.

The “golden submarine” created an overwhelming game, controlled the ball and held an impressive rhythm to crush Liverpool. The duo of Francis Coquelin and Capoue caused the Liverpool midfield to collapse. In the return day, Gerard Moreno impressed with the situations of making walls and smart moves.

Coach Klopp continues to leave his mark to bring Liverpool closer to glory AFP

In both goals in the first half, Villarreal’s players occupied the perfect space to exploit the space in the Liverpool defence. Coquelin’s high header right in front of Alexander-Arnold, or Raul Albiol’s situation of crossing the ball in Sadio Mane’s foot, showed the superiority of coach Unai Emery’s teachers and students. Villarreal has really exploded thanks to the careful preparation of the game and the way it is deployed.

However, playing against teams like Liverpool, playing better for 45 minutes is not enough. When having the advantage of leading, Villarreal did not continue to push the squad high, but retreated very deep into the home field to defend. Liverpool’s midfield, which was strangled in the first half (the players only passed the ball with accuracy about 65 – 70%), now has more space to comfortably play the ball and press Villarreal.

Coach Jurgen Klopp had a landmark substitution situation when he replaced Diogo Jota with Luis Diaz. Thanks to speed and technique, Diaz pushed Villarreal’s defense back deep, now he has to cling even deeper in the penalty area to prevent it. This caused the “Yellow Submarine” to completely lose the initiative created in the first half. Liverpool attacked, scored 3 goals and destroyed Villarreal’s hope of upstream.

Luis Diaz entering the field changed the game AFP

With 1 goal, 4 successful passes and an accurate pass rate of 90%, Luis Diaz was voted the best player of the match. However, the arrival of the Colombian winger in the second half was more than that. That is the message that shows the depth of Liverpool’s squad. Coach Klopp has a lot of good players to choose from. When plan A was caught, Liverpool immediately had a plan B with the keen eye of coach Klopp. Although the first half was very bad, but the “Red Brigade” only needed 12 minutes to hit 3 goals into the opponent’s net.

In the opposite direction, Villarreal had exhausted all the lessons in the first half and that was also the only plan of coach Unai Emery. The Spanish strategist has no backup solution against a mischievous and adept opponent in the Champions League like Liverpool.

The “Red Brigade” is not a team of fixed stereotypes under Klopp. Liverpool adapt well, have many solutions, can even perform both good and bad in a match.

90 minutes before Villarreal was also a rare match where the duo Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane did not play well. Even Mane passed the ball with 38% accuracy in the first half – a disastrous number. But the British representative still knows how to win. That is the difference in class between Liverpool and Villarreal, as well as the difference between Liverpool and themselves in the 2017-2018 season, when they reached the Champions League final for the first time under coach Klopp.

Villarreal (yellow shirt) could not make a shock against Liverpool AFP

When he was sent off, Villarreal midfielder Capoue still received applause from the fans. Capoue as well as Coquelin, Juan Foyth, or even captain Raul Albiol. They all went to Villarreal to save their careers. More than half of the “Golden Submarine” squad consists of players who have to leave because they have no place in the bigger clubs. With a modest force, Villarreal made great efforts to be in the semi-finals.

However, the Champions League is always very cruel. Phenomena like Villarreal have appeared a lot in the past seasons, such as AS Monaco (2016 – 2017), Ajax Amsterdam, Tottenham (2018 – 2019), RB Leipzig, Atalanta, Lyon (2019 – 2020). However, with the exception of Tottenham, no team has reached the final, let alone the championship feat. There’s always a limit to mid-tier clubs in the Champions League.

Although this playing field has many variables, the level and depth of the new squad built by coach Klopp for Liverpool is a key factor for teams to open the door to glory. Liverpool is better than Villarreal in this respectso Klopp’s teachers and students have the right to play poorly in a round, but still be present in the final match.