Liverpool (England)
With a record of 24 wins, 7 draws and 2 losses, scoring a whopping 85 goals and conceding just 22, the team is firmly in second place in the Premier League. The home side managed to beat
Manchester United Football Club
and Everton after they finished just one point behind the
Manchester City
Behind.
(go ahead and do it) without hesitating
European crown
There was no surprise win over Benfica in the last eight, and their opponents were unexpectedly knocked out by Villarreal when they faced Bayern Munich, but that somewhat eased the pressure of the tough fixtures they faced towards the end of the season. As six-time Champions League winners, this is the twelfth time in their history that Liverpool have reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League, and nine of the previous eleven times they reached the final, which is an 82% advancement rate, which is also a source of confidence when they face the Yellow Submarine.
However, the opponents are not idle, so they should not be taken lightly at all.
Villarreal are temporarily in seventh place in La Liga with a record of 14 wins, 10 draws and 9 losses, scoring 53 goals and conceding 31. Nine points behind the Champions League zone, they have an extremely difficult time catching up and will have to beat the seemingly impossible path of Liverpool and Manchester City/Real Madrid before they can participate in next season's Champions League.
However, the Yellow Submarine are clearly under the least amount of pressure compared to several of the stronger teams, as they are not favored to beat Juventus and Bayern Munich in consecutive matches to return to the Champions League quarterfinals, which they reached in the 2005/06 season.
In addition, Coach Amelie has led the Yellow Submarine to an unbeaten 9 wins and 5 draws in the knockout stages of European competition since his appointment, as well as Sevilla, who beat Liverpool in the 2015/16 Europa League final to reach their Champions League hopes. Does a second-tier top flight side seem to suit him better than the experience of a first-tier giants?
Liverpool (England)
The formation remains a 4-3-3:
Goalkeeper: Allison Becker
后卫：Trent Alexander-Arnold、Ibrahima Konaté、Virgil van Dijk、Andrew Robertson
中场：Jordan Henderson、Fabinho、Thiago Alcántara
前锋：Mohamed Salah、Sadio Mané、Luis Díaz
The Yellow Submarine's formation is 4-4-2:
前锋：Arnaut Danjuma、Samuel Chukwueze
中场：Francis Coquelin、Daniel Parejo、Étienne Capoue、Giovani Lo Celso
后卫：Pervis Estupiñán、Pau Torres、Raúl Albiol、Juan Foyth
门将：Geronimo Rulli
the state of play
second half (of sporting competition)
A Liverpool corner in the 7th minute saw Sadio Mané have a good chance in front of goal but couldn't react well enough for Pau Torres to make a timely clearance.
In the 12th minute, Mohamed Salah swung in a cross from the right and Sadio Mané stepped forward with a great chance to get his head on it, but it went wide of the post.
In the 13th minute, Luis Díaz received a pass from Andrew Robertson on the left and chose to shoot directly from the inside, Gerónimo Rulli pounced on the ball and although the first time he got out of his hands, he reacted quickly enough to confiscate the ball in time and Liverpool failed to pick up a bargain.
In the 15th minute, a Liverpool corner kick from the left was cleared out of the box by the Yellow Submarine and Thiago Alcántara met the ball just outside the box with an overhead kick, one that bounced off the ground and was deflected by Gerónimo Rulli.
In the 26th minute, Sadio Mané back-boxed Mohamed Salah in the box and the Egyptian pharaoh followed up with a shot that went high.
In the 31st minute, Luis Díaz cut inside from the left and took another powerful shot, but it was saved again by Gerónimo Rulli.
VVD took a yellow in the 32nd minute.
In the 33rd minute, Liverpool broke the ball, Luis Díaz offloaded the ball and passed it diagonally to Sadio Mané, who stopped the ball and turned to shoot in the air, but unfortunately, the direction was not quite right and went slightly wide of the goal post.
In the 35th minute, Andrew Robertson's long diagonal pass from midfield led to TAA's inverted cross from the right without stopping the ball, which was met by Mohamed Salah with a shot in the air, but it was over the bar.
The first half ended with Liverpool 0-0 Villarreal.
second half (of sporting competition)
Pervis Estupiñán picked up a yellow in the 47th minute.
In the 53rd minute, Mohamed Salah sent a cross straight to Jordan Henderson from the right rib, but he didn't expect it to hit the foot of Pervis Estupiñán and change the line to break through the goal, and Gerónimo Rulli was completely out of his depth. The goal broke the deadlock and gave Liverpool a 1-0 lead.
In the 55th minute, Mohamed Salah received a diagonal pass from TAA, turned and broke through the opponent's net and sent a subtle straight to find Sadio Mané, who dipped in to reverse the position and stabbed a one-touch shot to extend Liverpool's advantage 2-0.
If the 1st one was luck, this one was nothing to write home about. The Yellow Submarine must be commended for defending so well that Liverpool couldn't catch a brief break until then, despite their constant running and pulling.
This was Sadio Mané's 20th goal of the season in all competitions and the fourth time in his Reds career that he has scored 20+ goals in a season; in addition, his 14th goal in the knockout stages of the Champions League is second only to Karim Benzema over the same period since his debut in the Champions League main round of the 2017/18 season and equals the record for goals scored by an African player set by Didier Drogba.
