There are arguably few trickier tasks in world football than being asked to defend against Liverpool for 90 minutes at Anfield at the moment, but that is what Villarreal were more or less forced to do on Wednesday night.
Unai Emery set up his side to be strong at the back and cause Liverpool problems on the counter, but ultimately they struggled to get out. An own goal and quickfire second from Sadio Mane did for the Yellow Submarine on the night, but the tie remains alive.
Speaking immediately after the match, centre-back Pau Torres gave his initial thoughts on the clash.
“Any error can penalise you. We knew where we were coming from. They were a bit better than us. We had planned for the eventuality that they went ahead, but we didn’t withstand as we had hoped.”
Diario AS carried the quotes, in which Torres showed some steely optimism in spite of the result.
“The plan was similar to Munich. We had complete confidence, but we go leave with a two goal disadvantage, 90 very long minutes. One goal at home puts you back in it again. There’s plenty to go.”
There was a distinct feeling in the first half that Unai Emery would have been satisfied with Villarreal’s first half work, given Liverpool didn’t create too many clear opportunities.
“In the first half we knew how to defend them well. We started with a direct game so that they didn’t feel comfortable. We had a break or two… it was our game plan. I think we started well but we are facing a great opponent that can get the better of you.”
Looking ahead to the return leg, Torres was keen to assert that it would be a different team waiting for Jurgen Klopp’s outfit on the other side of the weekend.
“In the end, we didn’t want to concede. We wanted to go home with a good result. I think we are alive. We are strong at La Ceramica, we demonstrated that against Bayern. We play differently at home.”
Although Villarreal have surprised both Bayern Munich and Juventus, this is the first time they will be taking a deficit into the second leg. Potentially with Gerard Moreno back from injury, how Villarreal attack Liverpool should ensure an intriguing second part to the tie.
A “bit better”? Liverpool could have taken Alisson off and still have won easily. They were totally out played.