Jamie Carragher has discussed Liverpool’s Champions League semi-final encounter with Villarreal and revealed his hopes for the game.
The Reds are heading into the first leg at Anfield as the overwhelming favourites but Jurgen Klopp has already warned against complacency.
The German said: “There might have been a little advantage in the last two games, maybe Juve or Bayern underestimated them, but that will never happen to us.”
The Reds are flying in the Premier League and retain a chance of winning the title but their opponents are 7th in La Liga, having won two, drawn won and lost two of their last five league games.
They’re a mixed bag, unpredictable, dangerous. From a coach’s standpoint, they’re exactly the type of side you wouldn’t want to face in a semi-final.
Villarreal are also managed by Unai Emery, one of the best knockout coaches in Europe.
The Spaniard has won the Europa League four times and finished as runners-up once and is also decorated from his time as PSG manager.
Klopp also spoke of his respect for Emery, calling the 50-year-old a “world class” opponent.
He told his press conference: “I had a lot of respect for Unai Emery and Villarreal before, because I saw the games against Bayern Munich and Juventus but only with one eye.
“But then I watched them properly: Wow! Impressive. Unai is obviously a detailed-obsessed manager who prepares for all different situations in a game. It’s really, really good.”
Liverpool need to be very careful of a side that have already knocked out Juventus and Bayern Munich and are likely desperate to add the Reds to their list of fallen giants.
On Tuesday, Manchester City and Real Madrid played out an enthralling encounter at the Etihad that finished 4-3 to Pep Guardiola’s side.
After watching the two sides do battle in the first semi-final, Jamie Carragher says that he hopes Liverpool’s match against Villarreal is boring.
That way, there should be no upsets on the cards and Liverpool will hopefully match their status as favourites to take a strong lead to Spain for the second leg.
“I hope it’s not,” Carragher told CBS Sports (26/04/22 at 10:40 pm). “I hope it’s 4-0 to Liverpool. I hope it’s boring. I would like it to be boring and we will see you in Paris.”
