Villarreal 2-3 Liverpool: Watch All The Goals As Reds Rally On Bad Night For Geronimo Rulli
Liverpool booked their place in the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League final on Tuesday night but they did it the hard way.
Jurgen Klopp's Reds had cruised to a 2-0 victory in the first leg at Anfield six days earlier, but that lead was wiped out within 41 minutes in Spain.
Boulaye Dia and Francis Coquelin stunned Liverpool to level the scores on aggregate.
But Klopp's quadruple chasers woke up after half-time as goals from Fabinho, Luis Diaz and Sadio Mane saw them win the match 3-2 and the semi-final 5-2 on aggregate.
Sadio Mane pictured scoring to seal Liverpool's 3-2 win against Villarreal
IMAGO/PA Images/Adam Davy
Liverpool were outfought and outplayed in the first half.
Villarreal rattled the Reds by taking the lead after just three minutes.
Pervis Estupinan's deep cross found Etienne Capoue, who squared the ball for Dia to tap home.
Capoue had got the better of Andy Robertson in the build-up to Dia's goal. And he did so again to set up Coquelin's equalizer.
After smartly turning away from Robertson, Capoue stood up a left-footed cross for Coquelin to head past Alisson.
Liverpool did not have a shot on target until Thiago Alcantara's effort in the 56th minute.
But the Reds were 3-2 ahead on the night just 18 minutes later after a quick-fire treble.
Fabinho scored the first after collecting Mo Salah's pass and shooting through the legs of Villarreal goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.
Diaz got Liverpool's equalizer on the night as his header from a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross found the net via Rulli's left heel.
Rulli's second half to forget was then rounded off by a major clanger.
He came rushing out to try to intercept a through pass from Naby Keita, but was beaten to the ball by Mane, who danced around him and Juan Foyth before shooting into an empty net.
Capoue was sent off late on after picking up his second yellow card.
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