Liverpool sink Villarreal submarines and reach the Champions final
Liverpool successfully accomplished the task of qualifying for the Champions League final, beating hosts Villarreal 3-2 on Tuesday night in the second leg of the semi-final.
Villarreal led by two goals through Polanyi Diya (3) and Francis Cocoli (41), before Liverpool scored a second-half hat-trick with Fabinho (62), Louis Diaz (67), and Sadio Mane (74) signing.
Villarreal boss Unai Emery made two adjustments to the starting XI which lost the first leg, with Gérard Moreno returning to attack after recovering from injury, while Polaye Dia took part in place of Samuel Chukwuiza.
On the other hand, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has opted to include Portugal's Diogo Jota in the front line, at the expense of Colombian Luis Diaz.
Villarreal quickly opened the scoreline in the third minute, when the left-hand ball reached Etienne Capoue who cheated on goalkeeper Alisson Becker, putting the ball on a golden plate in front of Diya who followed it easily into the empty goal.
Liverpool fell behind in their reaction until the 11th minute when full-back Andy Robertson drew a cross, followed by a weak Jota and far from the Spanish side's goal.
Villarreal midfielder Dani Parejo fired a poor shot that did not pose a danger to Liverpool's goal in the 12th minute, and Jota failed to deal with Mohamed Salah's goal-facing pass under pressure from Villarreal defender Raul Albiol in the 23rd minute.
The referee refused to concede a penalty for Villarreal in the 37th minute after a joint game between the home side's Alisson Giovanni Lo Celso.
Villarreal managed to bring the tie back to scratch, scoring the second goal in the 41st minute, following a cross from Capoue that Francis Cocolin rose above Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, to put a neat header into the net.
Diaz came in for Jota at half-time, and he made an immediate impact, when the ball reached him on the left, to dribble past him and fire a shot that bounced off the post in the 52nd minute.
Arnold fired in a shot from afar, which bounced off Villarreal's defense to hit the crossbar in the 55th minute, before Liverpool could trim the score in the 62nd minute, when Fabillo conceded a pass from Mohamed Salah, firing from a tight angle into the net.
Liverpool added a second goal in the 68th minute when Arnold spurned a neat cross with his right, which Diaz met with his head, only to throw it between the keeper's feet into the net.
Villarreal looked resigned after conceding the two goals, and his goalkeeper Rowley made an unforgivable mistake when he failed to disperse the ball while out of his own net, to be picked up by Mane and past Juan Foyth, before putting the ball past the empty goal in the 74th minute.
The sides made a host of substitutions, and Liverpool substitute and captain Jordan Henderson passed the ball right inside the box, reaching another substitute Curtis Jones whose 81st-minute try was saved by Rowley.
Villarreal's hopes were virtually over after Kabwe had the second yellow card in the 86th minute, and Salah missed an easy chance to score in the final minute.