UEFA Europa League: Villarreal 1-0 Liverpool – 5 talking points

Villarreal scored the only goal of the game

It was quite the dull match at Villarreal’s El Madrigal stadium for both Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and Marcelino’s Villarreal until Adrian Lopez scored a late winner for The Yellow Submarines and gave his team a slim advantage over Liverpool in the first leg of the semi-finals of the Europa League.

Pressure was on Liverpool going into this fixture with the absence of key players such as Divock Origi and Mamadou Sakho, who were both crucial in their previous matches but Liverpool were not to be considered the underdogs following their fantastic comeback against Dortmund in the second leg. 

Both teams looked desperately for a goal after a couple of good chances from each team but it was Villarreal in the end who snatched one in the 90th minute thanks to a great cross by Denis Suarez to set Adrian Lopez to tap in a goal at the end of a quick counter.

Despite the minor advantage the Spanish club now takes to Anfield in the second leg, this tie may perhaps be poised for another fantastic comeback by Liverpool at home in a week’s time.  

Here are the five crucial talking points from this clash : 

Sturridge not being brought on 

Sturridge was left on the bench against the Spanish side

It came as a surprise when Liverpool’s starting line-up didn’t have Daniel Sturridge on there and was instead in the subs. It was a big call for Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp to leave him out considering his recent form. Klopp himself explained it being a “difficult decision” but in the end decided for a little bit more stability and thus picked Roberto Firmino due to his familiarity with the system he intended to use, i.e., 4-3-3/4-5-1 or a diamond.  

Sturridge would have done the obvious things for Liverpool - stretched the Villarreal defence vertically and threatened the goal thanks to his pace (even though Villarreal didn't leave much space at all).

It would have made the Yellow Submarines more cautious and perhaps Liverpool would have scored that priceless away goal they needed with his movement. Bringing him on in the second half when Villarreal wanted to attack more was something every Liverpool supporter was looking towards and probably would have been wise but Klopp seemed happy with his game plan.

Klopp will most definitely start Sturridge in the second leg as Liverpool will need to go on an all attack mode if they want hope of progressing to the finals.