The Yellow Submarine will host Liverpool at the El Madrigal on Tuesday hoping to surmount a 2-goal deficit and achieve the impossible
If Villarreal have shown anything in their European sojourn under Unai Emery, it’s grit – the sheer ability to lay it all down and grind for the special result.
That rare determination to make a difference has ensured the group comprising mostly of Premier League rejects are in the semifinal of the biggest club cup competition in the world one year after winning the Europa League.
Villarreal will play at home, knowing they have nothing to lose, in comparison with the Reds who still have their hands partly laid on three trophies from the four they hope to win.
Having won the league cup earlier in the year, Liverpool’s hopes of winning a quadruple will receive a boost if they finish what they began against Villarreal. They however face a team that has lesser to lose, yet everything to play for.
Another European final barely a year since defeating Manchester United in the final of the Europa League will be an astonishing achievement for Villarreal but the possibilities of it happening is low.
Liverpool are arguably the best football club in the world today and a third Champions League final in the last five years is enough motivation to give it all.
Villarreal’s Nigerian import, Samuel Chukwueze is seen as a joker after delivering the suckerpunch that ended Bayern Munich’s dreams in the quarterfinal.
While the winger had little to do in the first leg, he may serve as a key cog when they play at home in the second leg, especially from the bench.
Chukwueze will also aim to become the first Nigerian to qualify for a Champions League final since the 2011/12 season when John Obi Mikel made it to the final with Chelsea.
Villarreal may never have seen themselves standing next to Liverpool in this stage at the beginning of the season, but with passionate fans behind them at the Ceramica, there’s pride to play for.
Should fortune and preparation be on their side, the impossible may just be a hearsay, after all, this is football and anything in it, they say is possible.
