Champions League Takeaways: Liverpool's patience yields a scintillating performance

Liverpool remains on course to record an historic “quadruple” following a scintillating performance at Anfield on Wednesday night in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal. 

The Reds’ 2-0 win over Villarreal means it needs only a draw in next week’s return leg in Spain to book its spot in the final in Paris on May 29. The month of May could prove to be a month to remember for the Merseyside club, who won the English Football League Cup earlier this year. Liverpool only trails Manchester City in the Premier League table by a single point with four more games left before the season concludes on May 22, and they have already qualified for the FA Cup final vs. Chelsea slated for May 14. 

Here’s what stood out from Wednesday’s game. 

Patience pays off for Liverpool 

Liverpool is now undefeated in 12 home games (with 10 wins) in the Champions League semifinals and looks poised to reach its third final in five years after beating Villarreal. The Spanish visitors were deployed in a defensive formation by manager Unai Emery, with a back four protected by a narrow midfield quartet. As a result, the home side dictated the pace of the game, enjoying 63 per cent possession and outshooting their opponents 6-1 through the first half. But for all its domination, Liverpool could not find a way to breach Villarreal’s goal. 

The English club’s persistence paid off in the 53rd minute, when Jordan Henderson’s cross into the box was deflected by Villarreal defender Pervis Estupinan and looped over the head of goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli before nestling into the back of the net. Anfield erupted and the home fans would have the chance to celebrate just two minutes later. Trent Alexander-Arnold fed a pass to Mohamed Salah, and his through ball in behind the defence was toe-poked past Rulli by teammate Sadio Mane. 

Credit must be given to Jurgen Klopp’s team. After being denied so much space by Villarreal in the first half, they remained calm and stuck to their gameplan of short passes and quick movement off the ball, rather than hitting hopeful long balls into the penalty area.

Liverpool’s Alcántara pulled the strings  

It was a Spanish midfielder’s star that shone brightest at Anfield on Wednesday night. Unfortunately for Villarreal, he was wearing red. Thiago Alcántara, Liverpool’s midfield maestro, was at his best against his countrymen, completing 99 of the 103 passes he attempted (96 per cent), the most in a single Champions League game he’s played for Liverpool. 

Alcántara also rattled a shot from distance off the woodwork — had it been six inches the other way, Liverpool would have gone into the break with the lead. That notwithstanding, Alcántara’s exemplary passing skills meant Villarreal was chasing Liverpool for most of the match and was starved of the ball. As a result, the Spaniards only mustered one shot, and failed to register a single shot on target in a match for the first time since Unai Emery took over as manager in 2020. 

Tough task ahead for Villarreal at home

Villarreal is down, but not out of this seminal series following Wednesday’s loss at Anfield. A 2-0 setback flattered the Spaniards, as Liverpool had chances to do more damage, only to be let down by a lack of finishing from their attackers in the final third. 

Still, there is no getting around the fact that Villarreal has it all to do if they are going to overturn a two-goal disadvantage in next week’s return leg at Estadio de la Cerámica, a cozy venue that seats 23,500 seats, roughly half of the city’s population. In the buildup to Tuesday’s game, manager Unai Emery described Villarreal as a “big club from a small city,” intimating that his squad had nothing to fear against Liverpool, one of the biggest and most successful clubs in world soccer. 

Villarreal upset both Bayern Munich and Juventus in the previous rounds, but this time it’s different as they’ll face a deficit going into the second leg.

Liverpool’s quick possession game and suffocating press to win back the ball in the first leg forced Villarreal into a more defensive posture than normal. Scoring chances for the Spaniards were few and far between, as Liverpool gave very little away. That’s the challenge facing Emery ahead of next week — figuring out a way to get more of the ball and unbalance Liverpool, while still maintaining a solid, defensive shape.

About the author: John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 20 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. TFC Republic can be found here.