Why Liverpool struggled to beat Villareal – Klopp

Jurgen Klopp has said Liverpool were able to beat Villareal on Tuesday because his players were themselves on the night.

Recall that the first leg of the Champions League semi-final tie ended 2-0 in favour of Liverpool at Anfield in England.

However, Villareal appeared to have cancelled the advantage when Boulaye Dia and Francis Coquelin scored in the first half of the second leg in Spain.

Liverpool later bounced back in the second half to win the game 3-2 thanks to goals from Fabinho, Luis Diaz and Sadio Mane.

Speaking after the game, Klopp said, “First half all of a sudden we were not ourselves, but in the second half we were ourselves and that’s why we won the game.

“Yes of course, Luis, what a goal and he had a few more situations.

“I think the first one he takes with a bicycle kick, if he takes that on the chest he can score already. So yeah, top performance.”

Defender Virgil Van Dijk has revealed what the German tactician told the players when they went into the tunnel.

He said, “[He told us] play football. Play the Liverpool way, how we’ve basically played all season.

“Get on the ball, have a lot of movements behind their high line. With the speed we have, we had to mix it up.

“But also, you have to show how much you really want to go to the final, that’s how it starts. Second half, we dominated and played so well.”