The essential
- Just like in 2019, Liverpool are aiming for a place in the Champions League final. But Jürgen Klopp’s players must first overcome the Villarreal obstacle in the semi-finals and that starts tonight.
- In the quarter-finals, the Reds overcame Benfica Lisbon with a 3-1 win in Portugal and a dramatic 3-3 draw at Anfield in the second leg. For their part, the Spaniards managed a real feat by eliminating Bayern Munich with a 1-0 success at home and a 1-1 draw in Bavaria.
- The first semi-final first leg gave birth to an anthology match on Tuesday evening between Manchester City and Real Madrid. Final score 4-3 for the English with a double from the inevitable Karim Benzema side merengue. The Frenchman is the top scorer in the competition (14 goals in 10 games).
Follow the pre-match live:
8:55 p.m. The players are in the hallway! Still a handful of minutes to wait before the start of hostilities.
20h50. It’s time for “You’ll never walk alone”, “you will never walk alone” in good French. Song sung by the 53,000 Anfield spectators before each match. Chills guaranteed!
8:45 p.m. Who will referee this semi-final? It will be the experienced Szymon Marciniak who will lead his 8th C1 match this season. The Pole was notably at the whistle of the quarter-final return between Real Madrid and Chelsea (2-3 – AP).
8:40 p.m. In Villarreal, Étienne Capoue has (re) made a name for himself. He had shown himself in front of the general French public one evening in September 2012. Against Belarus in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, he scored his one and only goal in blue while playing in Ligue 1 in Toulouse. After a mixed experience at Tottenham, he joined Watford, a bottom club in the Premier League and gradually fell into anonymity despite a significant playing time.
Last year, during the winter transfer window, he signed a contract with Villarreal where he will establish himself as an indisputable holder in the midfield. Winner of the Europa League last season, semi-finalist of the Champions League this year, what if Étienne Capoue remembered the good memories of his coach Didier Deschamps?
8:34 p.m. The Champions League and Liverpool, an old love story. They are the most successful English club in the competition. Only AC Milan (7) and Real Madrid (13) have won more big-eared cups than the Reds who share 3rd place with Bayern Munich. We particularly remember this legendary final in 2005 when Liverpool, trailing 3-0 at the break by AC Milan, managed to equalize in the second half before winning on penalties. Their last coronation dates back to 2019 and a 2-0 success against Tottenham.
8:32 p.m. 3rd confrontation between the two clubs. This is the second time that Liverpool and Villarreal will meet in the semi-finals of a European Cup. The last time was in the Europa League during the 2015-2016 season. The Spaniards had won the first leg 1-0 at home before the Reds qualified in the second leg with a convincing 3-0 success. In the final, Jürgen Klopp’s men lost 3-1 to Sevilla FC coached by… Unai Emery.
8:30 p.m. Ibrahima Konaté: from the square de la Roquette to the central defense of Liverpool. The 22-year-old French defender is gradually establishing himself in the Reds’ rearguard alongside Dutchman Virgil Van Dijk. Scorer twice against Benfica in the previous round, the former Leipziger is a child of the capital. More precisely from the 11th arrondissement where he started football in the city stadium in the La Roquette district. His brother Sikou and his former coach Frédéric Hébert tell in our columns the trajectory of the new rock of Anfield.
8:25 p.m. Villarreal: a submarine to conquer Europe. This is the story of a small Spanish town of just over 50,000 inhabitants whose football club speaks to the vast majority of football fans. On the other side of the Pyrenees, Villarreal is one of the clubs that matter and which now manages to tickle the big continental teams in the European Cup. Winner of the Europa League last year, the “yellow submarine”, led by ex-PSG coach Unai Emery, is now dreaming of the most prestigious club trophy. Against Liverpool, 6 times winner of the event, it will be necessary to achieve a 3rd feat in a row after eliminating Bayern Munich in 1/4 and Juventus Turin in 8th.
8:20 pm Le XI de Villarreal: two French starters in this 4-4-2 concocted by Unai Emery: Étienne Capoue in midfield and Francis Coquelin aligned on the left wing. Scorer in the first leg in the 1/4 final against Bayern (1-0), Arnaut Danjuma is established, as is Samuel Chukwueze, scorer in the second leg (1-1). Two former Ligue 1 players also feature in this XI with ex-Parisian Giovani Lo Celso, positioned alongside Danjuma, and Argentinian goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli, who passed through Montpellier.
The composition : Rulli – Foyth, Albiol, Torres, Estupiñan – Parejo, Capoue, Chukwueze, Coquelin – Lo Celso, Danjuma.
20h15. La compo de Liverpool : Jürgen Klopp is doing the classic for this first round against Villarreal. The German technician aligns his standard team in 4-3-3 with a hinge composed of Virgil Van Dijk and the French Ibrahima Konaté. At the forefront, the traditional trio made up of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and Luis Diaz will try to break through the Spanish lock. In the middle, another trio with Fabinho, positioned in front of the defense, Jordan Henderson and Thiago Alcantara.
Le XI : Alisson – Alexander Arnold, Van Dijk, Konaté, Robertson – Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago Alcantara – Salah, Mané, Luis Diaz.
8 p.m. Hello everyone! Welcome to this live stream to follow this second Champions League semi-final first leg between Liverpool and Villarreal. Kick-off scheduled for 9 p.m. at Anfield.