Jurgen Klopp feels Juventus and Bayern Munich ‘under-estimated’ Villarreal in the Champions League, so assures Liverpool have learned from those shock eliminations.
The semi-final first leg is on Wednesday at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT).
Villarreal already caused some huge upsets in the tournament this season, beating Atalanta to second place in the group phase, then knocking Juventus out of the Round of 16 with a 3-0 victory in Turin on March 16.
Bayern Munich also capitulated 1-0 in Spain and were held to a 1-1 home draw in the second leg of the quarter-final.
“There might have been a slight advantage where Juve or Bayern might have underestimated them, but that won’t happen with us. They want to be part of the final but it’s the same importance for us,” assured Liverpool manager Klopp in today’s press conference.
Coach Unai Emery won the Europa League four times, most recently with Villarreal in 2020-21, but has never translated that success to the Champions League until now.
“He’s a detail obsessed manager who prepares for all different situations in a game” 🔎
Jurgen Klopp has praised Villarreal manager Unai Emery ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League semi-final clash with the Spanish side 👇 pic.twitter.com/mVxkNckwa8
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 26, 2022
You should be telling this after beating them. If by any chance you lose and don’t quality these words will go against you and the media will start roasting you.