Liverpool have rallied after an early scare to defeat Villarreal 3-2 and advance to their third Champions League final in five seasons.
Villarreal looked on their way to another stunning upset after opening a two-goal lead in the first half on Tuesday to offset a 2-0 first-leg loss in England.
But the modest Spanish club couldn’t sustain it and Liverpool won 5-2 on aggregate.
After Boulaye Dia and Francis Coquelin put Villarreal ahead by the 41st minute, Fabinho, substitute Luis Díaz and Sadio Mané scored in the second half to propel Liverpool into the final for the first time since winning their sixth European title in 2019.
(Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)
Based in a city of 50,000 people in southern Spain, Villarreal had eliminated Juventus in the round of 16 and Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.
Unai Emery’s team played a man down from the 86th after Étienne Capoue, who created both Villarreal goals, received a second yellow card.
Liverpool will play the May 28 final in Paris against either domestic rivals Manchester City or 13-time European champions Real Madrid.
The meet on Wednesday in Madrid with City defending a 4-3 win from the first leg.
The victory also keeps alive Liverpool’s hopes of a quadruple, winning all four major trophies available to them in one season.
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For the last 2 weeks, my friend has been joking with me that Villarreal will progress and that it will be thanks to an "Unai Emery masterclass" (Emery was a laughing stock in England before this Champions League run). Well, at half-time I believed him, then Liverpool woke up from their atrocious first half. Unlucky Villarreal, you got further than we thought you would.