Rio Ferdinand blown away by ‘mesmeric’ Liverpool player against Villarreal

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Liverpool winger Luis Diaz changed the game against Villarreal on Tuesday night with Rio Ferdinand branding his performance ‘mesmeric’.

The Reds were back in Champions League action on Tuesday evening as they booked their place in the final.

Leading 2-0 from the first leg against Villarreal, Liverpool were clear favourites to advance – but Villarreal gave them a real scare.

Boulaye Dia bagged an early opener before Francis Coquelin made it 2-0 as Villarreal threatened to turn the tie on its head.

Liverpool had to come out reinvigorated after the break and did exactly that thanks to the introduction of Luis Diaz.

Jurgen Klopp threw Diaz on at half time in place of Diogo Jota and the Colombian changed the entire energy of the performance.

Fabinho got Liverpool’s revival started before Diaz added a second, with Sadio Mane then sealing Liverpool’s passage into the final.

Etienne Capoue’s red card wrapped it all up for Liverpool as they completed a superb fightback, going through with a. 5-2 aggregate win.

It was a real Jekyll and Hyde performance from Liverpool as Diaz made a huge impact with his half-time introduction.

This has pretty much been the case ever since Diaz’s arrival from Porto in January; making an enormous impression whenever he’s on the pitch.

Diaz’s arrival has given Liverpool life in the title race and you can certainly argue that a quadruple wouldn’t be on the cards without his signing.

Diaz has been praised from all corners since joining Liverpool and Rio Ferdinand has been absolutely blown away.

Speaking to BT Sport on Tuesday night (10:19pm), Ferdinand suggested that Diaz was the big difference against Villarreal with a ‘mesmeric’ performance.

Ferdinand hailed Diaz’s dribbling, trickery, balance and desire to attack full backs, simply calling the Liverpool star ‘fabulous’ after his latest superb showing.

“Diaz was the difference maker,” said Ferdinand. “Yes, Villarreal stepped off the gas but Diaz coming 1v1 was the big difference. This guy came on and was mesmeric.”

“They’ve got great strikers but he is something different. He wants to get you 1v1 and run at you at all times, that’s his first thought. The dribbling, the way he uneases and unnerves defenders, his trickery, his balance. I think he’s a fabulous player, what a player,” he added.