Villarreal midfielder Francis Coquelin believes Liverpool is the best team in Europe.
Unai Emery’s side beat two Europe powerhouses Juventus and Bayern Munich in the round 16 and quarterfinals to reach the semi-finals.
Despite the victory over these strong teams, he believes Liverpool is better than Juventus and Bayern Munich.
Villarreal will play their second Champions League semi-finals in their club history after winning the Europa League last season.
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However,Jurgen Klopp has urged Liverpool not to underestimate Villarreal and face the same fate as Juventus and Bayern Munich.
What was said:
Speaking to the Daily Mail ahead of tonight’s encounter he said:
“Liverpool are stronger than Bayern (the team Villarreal knocked out in the quarter-finals). They are probably the team that presses the best in Europe.
“It is difficult to know where their weaknesses are. They have two players who fight for the Ballon d’Or every year (Mohamed) Salah and (Sadio) Mane.
“They are strong all over the pitch with full-backs who can play like strikers. And now they have signed Luis Diaz too and he settles in the team like he has been there for five years’’.
“But we are not going there just to look around Anfield.”
Villarreal will hope to get a positive result at Anfield to boost their chances of qualifying for the finals in Spain next week.
Gabby Agbonlahor has urged Villarreal to exploit Liverpool.
According to the former Aston Villa striker, Unai Emery’s side should target Trent Alexander-Arnold who is the weakest link in the Liverpool setup.
using Trent Alexander-Arnold recent struggle against Everton winger Anthony Gordon as reference he urged Villarreal to put one of their quickest players on the left wing.
He told talkSport that:‘How good was [Anthony] Gordon on Trent [Alexander]-Arnold?’
‘And I know Trent [Alexander]-Arnold is an amazing footballer, but he’s the weakness defensively.
‘So if I’m Villarreal tonight, I’m putting my quickest possible player on that left-hand side on Trent [Alexander]-Arnold.
Gordon, every time he was up against him, got past him.
‘So that would be my tactic, even though you would probably get [Ibrahima] Konate come over and cover anyway.
‘But it would definitely be to target that right-back side.’
Villarreal midfielder Etienne Capoue has described Anfield as a hell.
The 33 years old Midfielder who played for Watford and Tottenham in the Premier league believes the fans at Anfield give Liverpool unduly advantage and describe it as a hell.
‘Anfield is hell, you have to say it how it is. It’s hell,’ the 33-year-old told AFP.
‘It’s the worst stadium I’ve been to in England. Whether it’s the atmosphere or the way they play. For 90 minutes, you live in hell.
‘They have this ability to transcend themselves, to cause you nothing but problems, all the time, in any part of the field.
‘They never stop, they rush you all the time, they only want to score goals, and even when they score, they carry on. They want to knock you out.
‘They don’t care what or who is in front of them. They just want to kill everyone and that’s it.’
