Unai Emery believes Villarreal were lucky only to lose 2-0 in their Champions League semi-final first leg defeat to an exceptional Liverpool side at Anfield, speaking to Movistar Plus.
If Villarreal withstood a battering in one sided opening 45 minutes on Merseyside, absorbing blows and standing firm, then two goals in the space of two minutes after the interval sent Emery sprawling onto the canvas, knocked to the ground with a ferocious jab cross.
Yes, there was a stroke of good fortune about the opening goal, Jordan Henderson’s cross deflecting into the far corner. But you make your own luck, as they say.
And there was nothing fortunate about the strike that pushed Liverpool on the brink of the final just minutes later, Sadio Mane’s perpetual movement bamboozling the Villarreal defence before slotting home following an inch-perfect Mo Salah throughball.
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“It could have been worse, we’ll try to make it different (in the return leg),” sighs former Arsenal and PSG boss Emery, who’s carefully constructed defensive wall was reduced to rubble by European football’s pummelling power drill.
“They are such a powerful team that it is very difficult (to play against them). In addition, in the semi-finals, the surprise factor that we had in the round-of-16 and quarter-finals is already diluted.”
Liverpool mustered 19 shots to the visitors one, while controlling nearly three quarters of the possession at Anfield.
Fabinho was like a human wrecking ball in the centre of the park, tearing down counter-attacks before they’d even got going.
As for Thiago Alcantara… Well, let’s just say few would have anticipated that he could improve upon his near-faultless performance in that 4-0 thrashing of Manchester United but here we are.
Last night, the Spaniard could have been puffing on a Cuban cigar, learning how to juggle and filing his tax return, all the while holding a Champions League semi-final in a vice-like grip.
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“They have not let us take control of the game, they have not let us run,” Emery adds. “We know we can compete against Liverpool, but today we didn’t.
“At La Ceramica, we have to try to make the game totally different because today we had a plan but the idea didn’t play out.”
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