‘Very aggressive’: Player Tottenham sold for £13m earns praise v Liverpool as BT duo impressed

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Villarreal’s Champions League dream ended against Liverpool on Tuesday night but former Tottenham Hotspur defender Juan Foyth drew some praise.

Villarreal were 2-0 down from the first leg and facing a mountain of a task against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool winning machine.

Villarreal put up a great fight though, opening the scoring on the night through Boulaye Dia.

Francis Coquelin then gave Villarreal real hope of a stunning comeback by scoring a second, leaving the tie poised at 2-2 at half time.

Liverpool brought on Luis Diaz though and were able to accelerate away, scoring three second-half goals.

Fabinho, Diaz and Sadio Mane all got themselves on the scoresheet to seal Liverpool’s passage into the Champions League final.

You can’t take anything away from Villarreal though, as their run to the semi-finals left many stunned.

Unai Emery’s men dumped Juventus and Bayern Munich out of the competition to reach the last four.

Few could have expected that from a team largely known as a group of Premier League cast-offs and misfits.

Coquelin, Etienne Capoue, Serge Aurier, Giovani Lo Celso, Geronimo Rulli, Vicente Iborra and Alberto Moreno are all in the Villarreal squad after being with Premier League clubs.

Another such player is defender Juan Foyth, who some may remember from his time at Tottenham Hotspur.

Tottenham swooped to sign Foyth from Estudiantes in 2017 with Mauricio Pochettino seeing him as one for the future.

Foyth, 24, only played 16 Premier League games for Tottenham before being sent on loan to Villarreal last season.

Villarreal paid £13million to turn that deal permanent last summer, and Foyth started at right back against Liverpool.

Foyth had some trouble with Diaz in the second half, as you would expect, but he did earn some praise.

Darren Fletcher and Steve McManaman were on commentary for BT Sport and commented on Foyth after 54 minutes.

Both seemed to be impressed with Foyth’s aggression and defending, with McManaman loving how he was trying to get away with some ‘dark arts’.

“He’s very aggressive isn’t he?” said McManaman.

“He’s good one-v-one as well, so you’d think he will relish that battle over there,” said Fletcher.

“He’s always tight, he’s always grabbing the shirt, he’s always trying to get away with as much as he can, which is the right thing to do,” added McManaman.