[EL] Villarreal (H): Pre Match

[Norbs]

We've beaten the best two teams in this competition. We can do this.

Dortmund and Rubin Kazan?

[TheElephantMan]

Dortmund and Rubin Kazan?

Perhaps "best" might not be correct, but trickiest. United were a potential bananaskin for us.

[Pablo]

They're definitely slight favourites. We'll need to be almost perfect in defence, which we barely ever are!

But much better teams than these lot have froze at Anfield on big European nights. Normally I'd say a cautious approach is the way to go in these circumstances, but we don't have cautious in our locker so we may as well go for the throat! You score 1, we'll score 3. You score 2, we'll score 4

[Yozza]

Patience is key tonight
So annoying that Morenos 92nd minute brain fart has put us in this position but have to believe!!!

[Slinky Skills]

I'm usually pretty optimistic about these scenarios, but I think we're going to go out. We've lost too many important players to get through. Plus, others seem to have fallen out of form at precisely the wrong time.

I don't think we'll score and wouldn't bet against them nicking at least one on the counter.

This always did look like a tough draw.

Completely agree, think we will go out tonight.

[Buzzo]

In what way?

It looks like a Spurs training kit... And getting the grass stains out of those white tops

[RedReet]

It looks like a Spurs training kit... And getting the grass stains out of those white tops

I do actually quite like our NB training and bench range. Will make nice dog walking clothes for me once they are reduced at the end of the season.

[Saveloy]

What makes a good dog walking outfit for you Reet?

[RedReet]

What makes a good dog walking outfit for you Reet?

Haha, as much as I know you are taking the piss, but anything that is comfortable and doesn't need ironed. Basically sportswear.

[baitman]

Is that what a uefa semi final build up has decended into...

comfy leisure clothes suitable for dogging

[Ams12]

I'll be in block CE2 tonight! Come on you REDSSS!!!!!! Gonna be sooo anxious...pray to Fowler we win!

[Yozza]

Last Liverpool FC European semi-final marked an end, win or lose Villarreal is just a start

Remembering Liverpool's last semi-final in Europe - and just how this is different

For a career that was founded on magnificent European nights at Anfield, how wicked it ended on such an occasion. Rafael Benitez left the pitch, the Kop already emptying, the phone-ins already lit.

The light had just been put out on the Spaniard’s six-year Liverpool reign. In truth, the Europa League defeat to Atletico Madrid was never make-or-break for Benitez; he was already broken. This merely confirmed it to those who did not wish to believe it.

This was not the memorable evening that Liverpool had become accustomed to under Benitez – indeed, since Gerard Houllier’s UEFA Cup run nine years earlier – but then, this was not that Liverpool.

This was a Liverpool in turmoil, on and off the pitch. The vice-like grip of Tom Hicks and George Gillett had started to squeeze the club’s money and, with it, its identity. Protests against the owners were, rightfully, taking place; some supporters were forced to focus more on balance sheets than league tables.

The club felt toxic and Benitez had found himself in the firing line, Liverpool’s poor season blamed on him, his departure an inevitability. In the first leg of the Atletico tie, it was alleged Christian Purslow, then the club’s managing director, gestured to the away fans housed in Vicente Calderon that Benitez was on his way out. It was unsavoury but, ultimately, unsurprising.

The 2-1 win over the Spaniards at Anfield saw them knocked out on away goals, Diego Forlan’s extra time strike sending the La Liga side through. Alberto Aquilani had sent the tie past 180 minutes; the goal by Yossi Benayoun sending the stadium into rapture. It would not last.

As confirmation came with the referee’s whistle, there was no defiant roar, no show of solidarity. There was disappointment without pride, a far cry from other valiant efforts of years past.

But then, this was a time of uncertainty. After years of success and stability, what now? Questions reserved not just on the pitch, but off it too.

Benitez shuffled off, his head bowed, never to truly return. The fear was the same could be said of Liverpool.

Klopp will walk off the pitch with the full support of everybody in the stands - Reds are on the rise

Jurgen Klopp will make that same walk on Thursday night. His head could be bowed, though it is unlikely regardless of the result, given what we know of him so far. It is almost certain it will not be a shuffle off the pitch, win or lose.

No matter. Klopp will depart the Anfield pitch after a European semi-final second leg, something all the club greats – Kenny Dalglish excepted – have experienced.

He will not do it, however, to the sound of disappointment, and little else. He will not do it to a rapidly emptying Anfield, the fans’ disgruntlement tangible. There will be no fear about his future, or that of the club’s.

Klopp’s Liverpool face a similar scenario to Benitez’s back in 2010. A 1-0 defeat in Spain – Forlan then, Adrian Lopez now – leaves the Reds with a tough task, but with a chance of redemption on Merseyside. But as the German takes aim at his opportunity, their two situations could not be any more different.

Liverpool could well be eliminated against Villarreal. It could well be in circumstances that, in theory, are nowhere near as grievous as the Atletico exit in 2010.

But it will still be Liverpool, and that is perhaps the most important thing of all.

Supporters are not unanimous on how successful the ownership of Fenway Sports Group has been, but no one will disagree with their credentials compared to the previous incumbents.

Not everybody is sure on the strength of the squad, but the bench will be a lot stronger than it was six years ago, when Nabil El Zhar, Daniel Pacheco and Philipp Degen were the three called upon to save the tie.

Now, everybody is united behind Klopp, and he will walk off that pitch with the full support of those in the stands.

The semi-final against Atletico Madrid was very much the end of an era, the final limp of a spent force, fatigued by so much dysfunction.

This, however, feels like the start of one. Klopp has found himself in two semi-finals in his first season at the club and is a two-goal victory away from two finals, too.

It is far too soon to herald the return of Liverpool, but the Europa League ties against Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund were a reminder of what the club is capable of. Klopp is responsible for that.

Liverpool, of course, could progress against Villarreal. The Reds boss seemed confident enough in the aftermath of defeat at El Madigral.

But regardless of the result, it is a club now on the rise, rather than in a freefall, and most will believe in its direction.

What a difference six years, a change of ownerships and four new managers can make.

It should be the club’s goal that it is never faced with such instability again. With Klopp at the helm, it won’t be too hard.

[BigChief]

Ace article! Love the positivity in that. I'm going to choose to believe.

(ps. everyone vote Sadiq today!)

[Liverpool]

Going to be some serious pyrotechnics going off tonight

[Chris]

Going to be some serious pyrotechnics going off tonight