Despite enjoying more goalscoring opportunities in the first leg, Liverpool host Villarreal looking to overturn a one-goal deficit. PHOTO: AFP
After a 1-0 first-leg defeat, Klopp saw a much-changed side beaten 3-1 by Swansea City on Sunday and goes into the biggest game of his seven-month tenure on the back of the first successive losses of his Anfield reign.
Including a 2-2 draw against Newcastle United, Liverpool have now gone three games without victory in all competitions, but Klopp is confident that they will rediscover their poise when the moment comes.
Villarreal strike late against Liverpool, Sevilla draw at Shakhtar
Reflecting on the defeat by Swansea, he told the Liverpool website: “We played like we played and I saw it for the whole 90 minutes and there was not a lot I enjoyed, to be honest. We have to think about it and we have to recover, which is very important, and we will play much, much better than we did on Sunday.”
Following the euphoria of the astonishing 4-3 second-leg win over Borussia Dortmund in the previous round, Liverpool found themselves drawn into a more cagey affair in last week’s first meeting with Villarreal.
After both teams had hit the post, Liverpool looked set for a creditable draw, only for an injury-time counter-attack to culminate in Adrian Lopez giving Villarreal a slender advantage.
Seeking to reach a first continental final since the 2007 Champions League decider, Liverpool approach the second leg needing to cancel out Villarreal’s lead but without exposing themselves on the counter.
Villarreal return to Champions League
With the defeat at Swansea having damaged their chances of qualifying for next season’s Europa League via the league, winning this season’s competition, which will yield a place in next season’s Champions League, has now taken on even greater importance.
Villarreal, meanwhile, travel to Liverpool full of confidence after securing a return to the Champions League for the first time in four years with a 2-0 win at Valencia in La Liga on Sunday.
Coach Marcelino, whose club have never reached a major final, could even afford the luxury of making 10 changes at the Mestalla from the side that beat Klopp’s men in the first leg.
He has a fully fit squad to choose from as Ivorian international Eric Bailly has overcome the hamstring injury he suffered in the first leg to travel with the rest of the squad.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 5th, 2016.
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