On the first day of the season, they would all have signed to be there, April 27, 2022. All of them are the players, but also the technical staff, the leaders and the supporters, of Liverpool as of Villarreal.
“
There are many players who, throughout their careers, dream of reaching this stage and who never get there
,” solemnly recalled Reds coach Jürgen Klopp at a press conference.
“
This stadium
” is the last four of the Champions League.
In Villarreal, there are several thirty-somethings to discover it.
In Liverpool, finalist in 2018 and winner in 2019, we know where we are going.
But we see much bigger.
To discover
Champions League fixtures and results
The Reds won the English League Cup last February, against Chelsea (0-0, 11-10 on penalties).
They will meet the Blues again in the FA Cup final on May 14.
While chasing Manchester City, leader with a point lead in the Premier League, and negotiating their C1 semi-final against Villarreal.
A quadruplet?
Admittedly, not all countries have two national cups, and therefore few clubs can claim it.
But the feat, which would remain significant, has not been achieved in Europe since 1967 (Celtic Glasgow).
Villarreal "
never had the pretension
" of winning the C1
"
People always talk to us about this opportunity to win four trophies but be careful, everything can change in the blink of an eye
", calmed Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, at the club since 2011. The English midfielder has in mind that the Reds do not have, in any case, their destiny in their hands in the championship.
Keeping a cool head and mastering what can be mastered.
Like, for example, this capricious Villarreal team.
SEE ALSO –
The celebrations of Villarreal players in the locker room after eliminating Bayern in the Champions League
Unai Emery could have stopped there last summer.
The Basque coach had won the 4th Europa League of his career after a hat-trick with Sevilla (2016, 2017, 2018).
It was the first major trophy in the history of Villarreal, eternal beautiful loser of Spanish football.
Here he is now 270 minutes from touching the Cup with big ears.
“
We never had the pretension to say that we could win the Champions League, never in life
”, strangled the French midfielder Étienne Capoue, essential cog in the yellow submarine, at 33 years old.
Taming the Anfield myth
To get there, Villarreal has seen the country.
There was this last match of the group stage, at Atalanta Bergamo, postponed at the last moment because of the snow.
Emery's men led 3-0 before holding on in pain and winning 3-2.
They were cynical to punish Juventus in the round of 16 (1-1, 0-3).
They were even more ruthless against Bayern Munich (1-0, 1-1).
In the return match in Munich, Bayern had 23 shots including 4 on target, Villarreal 4 shots including 1 on target.
You'll never guess who qualified.
“
Here, there are 50,000 inhabitants, and they (the big European clubs), their stadiums have 70,000 seats,
noted Étienne Capoue.
We are not disrespected by saying that we are Tom Thumb.
It's just the truth.
»
I believe it is the best Liverpool I have ever known.
Villarreal coach Unai Emery
Let's be precise: Anfield has "only" 53,000 seats.
But it is nonetheless "
a historic stadium, with an impressive atmosphere
", salivates the midfielder of Villarreal, Dani Parejo.
It is in this enclosure that evolve “
players who wring you out and who transplant inside to hurt you,
analyzed Unai Emery, former coach of Arsenal.
I believe it is the best Liverpool I have ever known.
»
Read alsoChampions League: Villarreal, a club with many (too) unknown talents
The tenacity of the Reds against Manchester City, in the league on April 10 (2-2), their superiority at Inter Milan before the spring (0-2, 0-1) or their margin against the astonishing Benfica (1- 3, 3-3), are all warnings for Villarreal.
The duo of prolific wingers, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané, is the beacon of a serene club at all levels, like the facetious Jürgen Klopp.
Who knows how to close his face when necessary.
Facing Villarreal will be "
hard, hard, hard, hard
", judged the German.
Even more to get the famous quadruple.
Wednesday evening, at Anfield, it is the first half of the extension of a dream that will be written.
For Villarreal or for Liverpool.