An all-England Champions League final remains on the cards after Liverpool dominated Villarreal in their first leg semi-final. Photo: Twitter @LFC
Liverpool are through to the UEFA Champions League final following a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Villarreal on Tuesday.
An all-England Champions League final remains on the cards after Liverpool dominated Villarreal in their first leg semi-final. Photo: Twitter @LFC
Liverpool are through to the UEFA Champions League final following a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Villarreal in the return leg of the semi-finals.
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The Reds won the tie 5-2 on aggregate to reach their third UEFA Champions League final in the last five seasons.
As a result, Liverpool became the first English club reach the final of the European Cup/Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup in the same season.
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Having won the first leg 2-0, Liverpool had one foot into the final but they got shock of their lives when Villarreal raced to a 2-0 lead before half-time.
Boulaye Dia opened the scoring for Villarreal as early as the third minute before Francis Coquelin doubled their lead four minutes from the interval.
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Liverpool knew they had a mountain to climb in the second half, but whatever Jürgen Klopp said in the dressing rooms at half-time got the players motivated.
The Reds came back from the half-time break guns blazing with Fabinho reducing the deficit in 62nd minute.
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Luis Díaz then came off the bench to net Liverpool’s second in the 67th minute while Sadio Mane completed the great comeback with a 74th-minute strike.
Liverpool will wait for Wednesday’s game between Real Madrid and Manchester City to find out who they will face in the final.
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Man City have the advantage following their 4-3 win over Real Madrid in the first leg, and they only need a draw to make it an all-England UEFA Champions League final.
Interestingly, the two teams – Liverpool and Man City – are also neck-on-neck in the title race for the Premier League championship.
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