Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
It was just at that point of the night when Jurgen Klopp might have been thinking about how far his Liverpool team have come as a force in Europe’s second competition when they fell prey to the kind of trap that English teams have walked into time and again over the years.
A sophisticated German manager they might have, but Liverpool made that old mistake of undoing 91 minutes of hard toil and concentration to allow Villarreal one sight of goal that the substitute Adrian Lopez took ruthlessly in the second minute of time added on at the end of the game. It changes the complexion of the return leg at Anfield on Thursday when Klopp’s team will again have to come from -behind if they are to reach the Europa League final in Basel next month.
The ball played in behind Kolo Toure was all the more frustrating for the Liverpool manager because the left-back Alberto Moreno had earlier missed a chance to snatch victory in this semi-final first leg with a breakaway run from the halfway line as Villarreal threw everything forward. The Spanish side had only three attempts on target all night, but the third was enough to put them in control of the tie.
It was Denis Suarez, once of Manchester City who made the goal, crossing from the right to pick out the unmarked Lopez to score. Suarez was a danger all night and yet Liverpool dealt with it until that fateful final minute.
Klopp said that he chose to omit Daniel Sturridge from the team -because the Englishman had never before played in the 4-3-3 system that he decided to deploy, and -presented the decision to select Roberto Firmino as a central striker as the less risky option.
Whether Sturridge will have seen it that way is another matter. Being left out in favour of Divock Origi for the two legs of the quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund is one thing, but being chosen second to Firmino, quite another. The England striker has scored in each of his last four Premier League games, but in Europe Klopp seems to -regard him as a potential weakness.
Certainly Klopp’s Liverpool side passed the ball well and opened up the space down the side of Villarreal a couple of times in the first half -although they created only one -really notable chance. Firmino -provides more of an alternative in building moves and helping to switch the ball quickly from one side to another, rather than a final destination for the cross into the centre.
There were a couple of occasions when James Milner got himself into good advanced positions down the sides of Villarreal but his crosses into the box were the kind that Christian Benteke might find useful rather than Firmino, holding off for the cut-back. The best of all was the Milner cross that found Joe Allen completely unmarked on five minutes but the midfielder could only tamely side-foot his shot straight at goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo.
Liverpool had more of the possession in the first half and there was a period when they were well on top but Villarreal, sitting fourth in La Liga, a distant 20 points -behind the runaway top three, -settled soon after.
Jonathan Dos Santos, the former Barcelona winger, looked a constant threat down the right wing.
Like Liverpool, however, Villarreal also lacked a central focus to their attack. Roberto Soldado, the Spain international who was such a disaster at Tottenham Hotspur, is said to be enjoying something of a rebirth at El Madrigal despite the fact he only has five league goals this season. He got one shot in on 42 minutes when the ball dropped kindly for him but his drifting, wide effort seemed pretty redolent of his days at White Hart Lane.
The threat from Villarreal came from the flank through the Mexican Dos Santos and, on the other side, the winger Denis Suarez, once of Manchester City who treated Allen to the most brazen nutmeg early in the first half.
The little Welsh midfielder was wincing at the shame of it with the ball having barely passed between his ankles.
There were strong performances in midfield from Liverpool and the captain Milner was impressive in demonstrating the kind of work rate required to keep the Spanish side at bay. It was Milner’s ball into Firmino on 65 minutes from which the Brazilian hit the post.
At the other end, Dejan Lovren and Toure were, until the goal, solid behind Lucas Leiva, another good performer in midfield. They denied Villarreal any space between the back four and the midfield and even as manager Marcelino made the changes, the home side struggled to get through or around Liverpool.
Philippe Coutinho was replaced with Jordon Ibe at half-time after the Brazilian complained of feeling unwell during the first half, -although his replacement had precious little effect on the game. In the end, Klopp never did call for Sturridge, preferring instead to bring on Christian Benteke for the closing stages. Simon Mignolet saved well from Bakambu before eventually the goal came.
It was a fine ball from Bruno Soriano that made the space for Suarez who squared to Lopez. At the home of the Yellow Submarine, Liverpool had that sinking feeling, and so to Anfield to see if they can turn it around once more.
