That’s all from me for tonight! Apologies for the abrupt exit, but I have to dash off to record a late-night episode of our Football Weekly podcast, which should be available on iTunes, all the usual places and by clicking here in a few hours. Thanks for your time and your emails - see you soon.
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Full-time: Liverpool 3-0 Villarreal (agg 3-1)
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeep! It’s all over - Liverpool are through to their first European final since 2007. It was easy for them tonight, as many of their players excelled against a Villarreal side that just didn’t give a good account of themselves. They weren’t allowed to - Liverpool tore into them from the get-go and goals from Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana piled the hurt on Villarreal after Bruno had put the hosts ahead with an own goal.
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90+3 min: Denis Suarez gets booked.
90+2 min: Joe Allen picks out Adam Lallana, who sells Jaume Costa a dummy before shooting for the top corner. Excellent save from Areola in the Villarreal goal.
90+1 min: Liverpool substitution: Lucas on for Daniel Sturridge.
90 min: The home fans strike up a rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone, as their team pass the ball around amongst themselves. Villarreal’s players look like they just want this nightmare to end. They’ve been totally outplayed tonight.
89 min: Liverpool substitution: Roberto Firmino off, he’s been excellent tonight. Christian Benteke on.
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87 min: Through on goal with just the goalkeeper to beat, Sturridge is unable to slot the ball past Areola, who saves at the striker’s feet.
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86 min: Emre Can has a shot from distance. It’s on target, but Alphonse Areola saves comfortably enough. Liverpool substitution from a couple of minutes ago: Joe Allen on for Philippe Coutinho.
85 min: On the Villarreal bench, manager Marcelino has the look about him of a man who is well aware the jig is up. His side are losing 3-1 on aggregate and down to 10 men. Liverpool are set fair for a place in the Europa League final, where they will almost certainly face Sevilla.
82 min: Roberto Firmino did superbly there to take the ball down the left flanks and around Mateo Musacchio and pull ity back into the penalty area from the byline. Daniel Sturridge’s shot from near the penalty spot was scuffed or half-blocked, but Adam Lallana was on hand to finish the job. It wasn’t the prettiest goal you’ll ever see, but they all count. Liverpool can’t possibly blow this now, types minute-by-minute reporter tempting fate.
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GOAL! Liverpool 3-0 Villarreal (agg: 3-1)(Lallana 81)
81 min: Adam Lallana prods home after great play from Roberto Firmino.
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80 min: Sturridge traps the ball brilliantly to control a long pass from Coutinho. A couple of step-overs later he shoots high and wide from a tight angle, when perhaps holding the ball up and waiting for the cavalry might have been a better idea.
77 min: Heart-in-mouth time for Liverpool fans as Denis Suarez gets a blatant shove in the back from Alberto Moreno in the penalty area. The referee doesn’t give it and it’s a bad decision. That was unquestionably a penalty. He’s got away with it, but what a completely idiotic thing for Moreno to do.
76 min: Roberto Firmino has a rasping shot punched clear by Alphonse Areola. Villarreal substitution: Dos Santos off for the replacement centre-half Daniele Bonera.
74 min: Going back to Ruiz’s dismissal: the centre-half was already on a yellow card and picked up his second for a late challenge on Adam Lallana. Upon seeing the yellow card come out of the referee’s pocket, he applauded sarcastically before the long, lonely trudge to the dressing room. Liverpool lead 2-o and Villarreal are down to 10 men.
71 min: Philippe Coutinho takes the free-kick but shoots straight into the wall. A poor effort, considering how dodgy the goalkeeper’s been tonight. Any sort of shot on target would surely have gone in!
RED CARD!
70 min: Victor Ruiz gets his marching orders from Viko Kassai and walks off to a chorus of “Cheerio! Cheerio! Cheerio!” Liverpool have a free-kick just outside the Villarreal penalty area, a little right of the D.
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70 min: Alphonse Areola drops the ball again, failing to hold on to a cross from Firmino. There’s nobody on hand in a Liverpool shirt to capitalise.
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68 min: Villarreal substitution: Adrian Lopez on for Roberto Soldado.
66 min: Cedric Bakambu latches on to a long pass over the top from Denis Suarez. His first touch lets him down in a very promising position.
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66 min: Roberto Moreno bamboozles a Villarreal defender with a dazzling piece of footwork on the turn, before teeing up Alberto Moreno. He pulls his low drive wide.
64 min: From a Villarreal point of view, that was a sdoft one for Villarreal to concede. Roberto Firmino played in Sturridge with a neat pass and the finish from close range could scarcely have been more composed. The most difficult part of his task was remaining onside, truth be told.
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GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Villarreal (agg: 2-1) (Sturridge 63)
Daniel Sturridge puts Liverpool 2-0 up on the night and ahead on aggregate. He nutmegged the goalkeeper from six yards out and wheels away in delirious celebration.
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61 min: Meanwhile in Spain, Sevilla lead Shakhtar 3-1 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate. It seems they’re about to qualify for their 393rd Europa League final in a row.
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60 min: Villarreal substittion: Manu Trigueros on for Tomas Pina. A central midfielder for a central midfielder.
58 min: James Milner plays the ball to the near post, where Roberto Soldado heads clear. A poor corner from Milner, who’s having a good game tonight.
57 min: Coutinho plays the ball wide to Clyne, who wins a corner for Liverpool off Jaume Costa the left-back.
55 min: Villarreal free-kick, wide on the right a long way out. Jonathan dos Santos’s delivery is wonderful and Roberto Soldado wins the header. His effort fizzes wide when he really should have hit the target. A good chance gone begging, there.
54 min: From the perspective of a neutral, a Villarreal goal would really help crank an already entertaining game up a notch. They’re being dominated by Liverpool and have been under the cosh throughout, but haven’t gone without chances. They will get more.
52 min: Nathaniel Clyne crosses from the right, but Victor Ruiz heads the ball out for a corner. From the ensuing inswinger, Emre Can shoots well wide from outside the box.
52 min: Sturridge shoots from the edge of the Villarreal penalty area. His shot bounces in front of the goalkeeper, who gathers comfortably.
50 min: James Milner picks up a pass from Firmino on the edge of the Villarreal penalty area, takes out a defender with a wonderful touch and then unleashes a low drive. He aims for the bottom corner, but doesn’t trouble Alphonse Areola.
49 min: Alphonse Areola in the Villarreal goal tries to punch a Philippe Coutinho shot, but his effort is quick. The ball refuses to drop for Milner. Well, it drops eventually, but not kindly for the midfielder.
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47 min: More good defending, this time at the other end. Musacchio slides in to block a Daniel Sturridge shot from a narrow angle. The Liverpool stirker had been played in down the inside left by Coutinho.
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46 min: Another fine challenge from Dejan Lovren, who’s been immense tonight. He dives in to hook the ball away from the foot of Cedric Bakambu at the exact moment the Villarreal striker was about to pull the trigger and looked certain to score after being put through on goal. Brilliant defending by the Croat.
Second half: Liverpool 1-0 Villarreal (agg: 1-1)
46 min: Villarreal get the ball rolling for the second half. We’ll have extra time and the possibility of penalties if there are no further goals, but I’ll be astonished if we have a goalless 45 minutes. There don’t appear to be any changes of personnel on either side. Interesting stat from BT Sport’s Owen Hargreaves: Villarreal have only failed to score once in their past 32 Europa League matches.
John Dutton has been in touch ...
He’s written in to say that I’m mistaken, Villarreal captain Bruno didn’t shin the ball into his own net. It was instead, he says, quite literally sucked into the net by the Kop.
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Half-time at Anfield: Liverpool 1-0 Villarreal (Agg: 1-1)
It’s all square on aggregate after Bruno unwittingly and reluctantly restored parity by delecting the ball into his own net. Villarreal looked a bag of nerves as they started and were unable to handle Liverpool’s press, but they improved towards the end of the half. They’re very much second best on the evening however and manager Marcelino will have to come up with some ideas if they’re to beat Liverpool tonight.
45 min: Dejan Lovren slides in to prevent Cedric Bakamba from prodding home a cross from the right. Good defending.
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44 min: There will be no added time at the end of the half. None. Shakhtar have equalised against Sevilla in the other semi-finasl, where it’s 1-1 (agg: 3-3).
41 min: Nathaniel Clyne sends a cross in from the right, which Villarreal half-clear. Milner sends the ball back into the mixer, but the Spanish side clear their lines more convincingly this time.
39 min: Roberto Soldado gets booked for a late and daft tackle on Philippe Coutinho. He has the air about him of a man who is losing the plot, does Roberto. The way he’s going I wouldn’t be too confident he’ll last 90 minutes.
38 min: Gadding down the left flank, Sturridge attempts to pick out Firmino on the edge of the Villarreal penalty area, but his pass goes astray.
36 min: Alberto Moreno attempts to pull the ball across the penalty area for Sturridge, but it’s cut out. Milner goes on to win a corner, his low drive going out off Musacchio. He curls the ball in from the left, but the goalkeeper plucks it from the air.
35 min: Nathaniel Clyne gets booked for a fairly innocuous looking challenge on Soldado as he challenged him for the ball.
33 min: Roberto Soldado makes a meal of a challenge from Dejan Lovren, who subsequently makes a meal of having his ankle grabbed by the Villarreal man as he was sitting on the ground. The referee keeps his yellow card in jhis pocket but gives both men a talking-to. I’d like to think he’s reminding them that they’re grown men who are embarrassing themselves with that kind of tomfoolery.
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30 min: Liverpool win a corner, which Milner sends in from the left. Dejan Lovren leaps and attempts to float a header over Alphonse, but the goalkeeper finally manages to catch the ball. Victor Ruiz picked up a booking for some indiscretion or other in the build-up to that corner. His colleague Denis Suarez was lucky to avoid a yellow for a petulant trip on Milner a few moments previously.
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28 min: Firmino wins a corner for Liverpool in his efforts to turn Mateo Musacchio. Milner floats the ball into the penalty area and Villarreal embark on a lightning fast counter-attack that comes to an abrupt end when Dejan Lovren dispossesses Denis Suarez with a fine challenge.
26 min: Alberto Moreno lands awkwardly after leaping into an aerial challenge. He’ll live.
25 min: Liverpool win a corner, which is sent into the mixer. Alphonse comes off his line, flaps helplessly and doesn’t get near the ball, leaving it up to Tomas Pina to head the ball out for another corner to prevent the waiting Emre Can from tapping in at the far post. Milner takes the second corner and Villarreal clear.
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24 min: Good play from Liverpool, with Nathaniel Clyne sliding a deft little pass down the inside right for Roberto Firmino to chase to the byline. He crosses into the Villarreal penalty area, but there’s nobody on hand to take delivery.
22 min: Sevilla lead Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 in the other Europa Leagie semi-final, which puts them in the box-seat to qualify for the final with a 3-2 aggregate lead.
21 min: James Milner is limping after being knocked over by Victor Ruiz. He appeals for a free-kick, but none is forthcoming.
19 min: Villarreal enjoy a rare spell of possession in and around the Liverpool penalty area, but are unable to muster a shot on goal before Liverpool get forward again. It’s an enjoyable, open game but there’s no doubt that Liverpool are the better side so far.
18 min: Jonathan Dos Santos picks up a cross-field pass on the right flank, but Kolo Toure charges across to challenge him. Corner for Villarreal, but nothing comes of it.
16 min: A replay shows that Sturridge didn’t actually open the scoring for Liverpool, the ball cannoned in off Villarreal skipper Bruno, who was standing at the far post.
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14 min: Dejan Lovren wins the ball in midfield with a robust challenge and plays it forward to James Milner. His diagonal delivery from deep is inch perfeect and bounces just in front of Adam Lallana in the Villarreal penalty area, but he’s unable to steer it goalwards from about eight yards out and it bounces wide.
12 min: Villarreal goalkeeper Alphonse is having a shocker, here. He’s been called into action three times and made a dog’s breakfast of his efforts to catch the ball on all three occasions. His latest ricks when he dashes off his line to beat Roberto Firmino in the chase to a through ball. He leaps, catches the ball, drops to the floor and promptly drops it. His blushes are spared by the referee blowing for something orother, but his nerves must be in shreds.
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9 min: Seconds before that Liverpool opener, Villarreal spurned a half-decent chance with - I think - Cedric Bakambu shooting over from the edge of the penalty area.
8 min: What a start from Liverpool! Emre Can played a pivotal role in setting up the goal, which ultimately came as Sturridge bundled home a Roberto Firmino cross from the left after goalkeeper Alphonse had flapped terribly at a previous Nathaniel Clyne delivery from the right. Can, it was, who originally won the ball in midfield and played it wide to Clyne.
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GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Villarreal (Agg: 1-1) (Sturridge 7)
Daniel Sturridge prods home from about four yards to give Liverpool the lead.
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5 min: Chance! Villarreal go close to opening the scoring, with Mario running on to a chest-down from Robert Soldado and unleashing a shot on goal. His low, rasping drive takes a deflection off Emre Can and is saved by Simon Mignolet, who has to work hard to keep it out.
4 min: By contrast, Villarreal look happy enough to conserve their energy and let Liverpool come at them by playing the ball out from the back.
3 min: Villarreal already know they’re in a game, their players getting gegenpressed to within an inch of their lives and not getting a moment’s peace to settle on the ball.
2 min: Out on the left wing, Philippe Coutinho robs right-back Mario of possession. Liverpool get forward and Firmino hooks the ball into the penalty area, where Villarreal goalkeeper Alphonse Areola and a couple of his defenders get in a bit of a mix-up. The goalkeeper allows himself a wry smile after capturing the breaking ball. A nervy start from Villarreal.
Liverpool v Villarreal is go!
1 min: Liverpool kick off, playing into the Kop in the first half. Emre Can gets his first touch and it looks like he is playing just in front of the defence.
Pre-match niceties ...
Their players a vision in yellow shirts, shorts and socks, Villarreal are first out of their dressing room and into the tunnel. They’re followed by the players of Liverpool, who wear red shirts, shorts and socks. James Milner leaqds out the home side, while Bruno wears the armband for Villarreal. Kick-off is just three minutes away.
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Not long now ...
Before the teams emerge for the team, there’s a special rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone in memory of the 96 victims of Hillsborough and the families, friends and other supporters who have fought so hard to get them justice over the past 27 years. A series of mosaics go up in various stands as a group of four singers wearing purple robes lead the assembled crowd in the singalong. The cameras cut to Kenny Dalglish, who was manager of Liverpool at that terrible time, in the Directors’ Box and he looks a little tearful.
This from Peter, also in California
“Re: your numerology chat with Brandon in Sacramento,” he writes. “I reckon that one of the most important Liverpool players tonight is the one who is ignored in the 4-3-3’s and 4-4-2’s of the tactical world- namely, the No1 between the sticks. I sure hope Simon Mignolet can command the box and hold on to the ball today!”
Pedantry corner: Mignolet is actually No22, but I take your point.
The teams are warming up ...
Jurgen Klopp stands out on the pitch with his arms folded as he watches his players go through their last-minute preparations. On BT Sport, match analysts and former Liverpool players Steve McManaman and Michael Owen are both exceedingly confident of a comfortable win for Liverpool. I’m not sure I share their confidence, although I think the reds may edge a tight affair. Brandon and Sacramento may be interested to learn that on the pre-match graphic, they have Liverpool lineing up in a 4-5-1, with Emre Can and Philippe Coutinho bookending the midfield five.
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An email from Brandon in Sacramento
“With the midfield of Can, Miler, Lallana, Coutinho and Firmino supporting Sturridge, do you see a 4-2-3-1 to start or 4-1-2-2-1,” he asks. “I would like a 4-4-2 with Firmino playing second striker to start.”
I don’t know Brandon in Sacramento - this simpleton reckons a 4-3-3 with Emre Can in front of the back four and Firmino and Coutinho either side of Sturridge, but I find there’s no better way to suck the joy out of football than getting bogged down in the minutiae of tactical talk. I’m not saying there isn’t a place for it - I just find it a bit dull, personally. Give me football as chaos any day. It’s a very attacking line-up, which bodes well for the evening ahead.
Liverpool v Villarreal line-ups ...
Liverpool: Mignolet, Clyne, Toure, Lovren, Moreno, Can, Lallana, Milner, Coutinho, Sturridge, Firmino.
Subs: Ward, Benteke, Lucas, Allen, Ibe, Skrtel, Smith.
Villarreal: Areola, Mario, Musacchio, Victor Ruiz, Jaume, Jonathan, Pina, Bruno, Suarez, Soldado, Bakambu.
Subs: Sergio Asenjo, Samuel, Trigueros, Castillejo, Adrian, Rukavina, Bonera.
Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)
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The #LFC starting line-up and bench for tonight's meeting with @VillarrealCF in full pic.twitter.com/dDd1Vsf3Xc
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 5, 2016
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Sturridge starts for Liverpool ...
Word filtering through from Anfield is that Daniel Sturridge will start for Liverpool tonight, along with Robert Firmino, who was the focal point of their attack last week. Emre Can also returns to the starting XI, having missed his side’s last five games with an ankle injury. We’ll have the line-ups here very shortly.
Let’s hear from the man himself ...
Will Daniel Sturridge line up for Liverpool?
Jürgen Klopp’s decision to leave Daniel Sturridge as an unused substitute in the first leg raised a few eyebrows and it’s difficult to know what to make of the fact that he subsequently played 90 minutes at Swansea at the weekend. My half-baked theory is that Klopp is far from the striker’s most ardent admirer and that the feeling is almost certainly mutual. Whether or not he starts tonight, I’ll be surprised if he isn’t moved on this summer. Asked yesterday if Sturridge would start, Klopp had this to say: “I was waiting for this question,” he said. “He could be, 100 per cent, but I’ve made no decision yet about the line-up. In all these thoughts, Daniel Sturridge is absolutely involved.”
Good evening sports fans ...
As the Premier League’s last remaining representatives in European competition, Liverpool go into tonight’s second leg with a one-goal deficit. Adrián López scored in the second minute of added time at the Estadio El Madrigal last week, condemning Liverpool to defeat despite a decent performance away from home. If they are to torpedo the counter-attacking Yellow Submarine at Anfield they will need to score while always remaining mindful of the dangers of conceding.
“Usually that game would have been nil-nil away and we then need to score at home to go through,” said Jürgen Klopp in the wake of last week’s defeat. “The situation hasn’t really changed a lot. If we have stability in our game again and if we can be more clear, direct and aggressive in our finishing, that is what we need to do.”
Kick-off is at 8.05pm BST.
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