⚽UEFA Champions League Discussion Thread -- 2021/22 winner - Real Madrid!

[darxiaomi]

What a football play Liverpool totally amazing and a pleasure to see, fast ball movement fast transitions, totally incredible.

Its not a surprise they win but its also a "good" result for Villarreal not losing for more goals.

I dont excpect a surprise in the comeback game

[1715043232]

1715043232

[zaim7413]

I knew from onset that Villarreal won't pose any threat to Liverpool at Anfield their familiar home ground where many teams can't escape defeat. Liverpool is already one leg to the UCL 2022 final, a remarkable achievement by the team chasing a quadruple trophies, they are a team to beat and currently one of the best in Europe, they had already won Carabao's Cup, they also set their eye on EPL trophy subject to any flop by Man City, they will play Chelsea next month in FA cup final and all is now set for UCL final respectively.

Liverpool quality is the difference in this match, Liverpool did a very good job in the first leg. Villarreal were not able to develop their game at Anfield, 0 shots on target during the 90 minutes of the match proved Liverpool's defense was very disciplined and difficult for Villarreal players to penetrate. Conceded 2 goals in the first leg made Villarreal have to struggle to get 3 goals without reply in the second leg. I think it is impossible for Villarreal to get more than 2 goals from Liverpool, because Liverpool only need a draw or at least lose 1-0 in the second leg to advance to the final round.

[borovichok]

Maybe the Manchester City - Real Madrid game was far better than today's game but I still enjoyed both of the semi final games. The Manchester City - Real Madrid game was like the best one of the recent years I believe. Nearly nobody was expecting to see a final score like 4-3 at the end. Most people might have believed that Manchester City would get a very comfortable win too after they brought the score to 2-0 in the first eleven minutes. But Real Madrid started playing very good offensively too and we had a great game there.

Yea. I think it was because it was two big teams playing ( Manchester City Vs Real Madrid) both side have quality attacking players that's why they was goal festival, and both team played attractive and attacking football and scores lot of goals, Liverpool played a villareal side that don't have quality and don't play attractive football like Madrid and don't have good players like Manchester City so you can't expect both games to be the same, Real Madrid have players like Karim benzema while villareal have Paco Alcacer so what do you expect.

[lulumiya]

Villarreal weren't able to get a favourable result for themselves and it was no surprise to me as well. Liverpool were a completely different opponent for them than Juventus and Bayern Munich. It was too difficult for them to make the same game plan work against Liverpool too. I still don't think that they were too bad here of course but Liverpool still succeed in getting what they wanted. Winning this game by two goals should be enough for them to finish it in the rematch. I don't believe that Villarreal can even end 90 minutes ahead by 2 goals and play the extra time.

[nurilham]

Villareal still lucky to go home two goals behind Liverpool since that could have been three or four. There's no coming back from this but "miracles" do happen in football.

2 goals from Liverpool, yes it is a little bit only. We know how aggressive Liverpool and Villarreal only had very small ball possession and also couldn't even have any chance to shoot. It's a little bit interesting.
And Villareal was lucky enough wth 2 goals moreover it was in Liverpool home. Liverpool should make more than 2 goals actually.
But let's see in the next leg in Villarreal's home. But however, I think that the chance is also small for Villareal to defeat Liverpool. Liverpool maybe the one that will continue to the final.

[Dewi Aries]

Maybe the Manchester City - Real Madrid game was far better than today's game but I still enjoyed both of the semi final games. The Manchester City - Real Madrid game was like the best one of the recent years I believe. Nearly nobody was expecting to see a final score like 4-3 at the end. Most people might have believed that Manchester City would get a very comfortable win too after they brought the score to 2-0 in the first eleven minutes. But Real Madrid started playing very good offensively too and we had a great game there.

Villarreal performance got me wondering how the got the semi finals. The had no attempt at all it was as if myserside club brought their own ball and restricted Villarreal from touching it. Liverpool did a clean job after all. So far Liverpool is sure to play in the finals but for Real Madrid and Manchester city it's still inconclusive the chances of having the table turn around between them is high

Haha what we expect doesn't match reality Villarreal trying to play defensively without doing anything just watch they only make one shot
I know Villarreal are trying not to concede so they can turn things around in the 2nd leg but they forgot that the opponent this time is Liverpool
Liverpool current position is very favorable they only need to draw in the 2nd leg.

[LittleBitFunny]

Maybe the Manchester City - Real Madrid game was far better than today's game but I still enjoyed both of the semi final games. The Manchester City - Real Madrid game was like the best one of the recent years I believe. Nearly nobody was expecting to see a final score like 4-3 at the end. Most people might have believed that Manchester City would get a very comfortable win too after they brought the score to 2-0 in the first eleven minutes. But Real Madrid started playing very good offensively too and we had a great game there.

Villarreal performance got me wondering how the got the semi finals. The had no attempt at all it was as if myserside club brought their own ball and restricted Villarreal from touching it. Liverpool did a clean job after all. So far Liverpool is sure to play in the finals but for Real Madrid and Manchester city it's still inconclusive the chances of having the table turn around between them is high

I would say that Villarreal's performance did not surprise me, Villarreal did not perform very well against Bayern Munich. Fortunately, they were able to score first. They have played defensively entire the match and won. Villarreal is very lucky so they have qualified for the semi-finals. But their performance against Liverpool today was disgusting. They have only 26% possession of the ball. And they have only 1 shot in the whole match. Even after conceding two goals, there was no tendency for attack among the players. If Bayern Munich had qualified for the semi-finals, the semi-finals would have been more enjoyable.

[Rengga Jati]

Haha what we expect doesn't match reality Villarreal trying to play defensively without doing anything just watch they only make one shot
I know Villarreal are trying not to concede so they can turn things around in the 2nd leg but they forgot that the opponent this time is Liverpool
Liverpool current position is very favorable they only need to draw in the 2nd leg.

Yeah, the statistic of the match shows that Villarreal only wanted to play defensively at Liverpool's home. They knew the chance and they could only do defense as possible as they could, to get fewer goals. ANd luckily, only 2 goals that Liverpool could score.
But, I think that the chance of Villarreal to
avenge in the second leg is also very small. Liverpool is much better in any case. Although they may have also a chance, it is very small. I don't mean to underestimate Villarreal, but if their performance is the same, it will be very hard for them to defeat Liverpool.

[zuzie]

Villarreal did a really good job in the first half by keeping Liverpool at 0-0. But the second half was different of course. It wasn't hard to predict that Liverpool would start to play much more effective. Villarreal still tried to keep the same game plan in this half too but it didn't help them too much. Liverpool scored in the 53th and 55th minutes consecutively and got 2-0 ahead suddenly. Villarreal needed to take risks after this score I thought. But they still didn't take the risks they needed and they barely were able to keep the score at 2-0 until the end. But I already believe that Liverpool are in the finale now.

Yes Villarreal players almost frustrated Liverpool players in the first half unfortunately in the second half Villarreal's defensive began to shake because stamina goes down, However Liverpool definitely don't want to lose the advantage of playing at home they have to win to secure the first leg so that in the second leg Liverpool play without a burden. Another Liverpool record almost perfect when playing away no matter who the opponent is definitely defeated.

[Igebotz]

Villareal still lucky to go home two goals behind Liverpool since that could have been three or four. There's no coming back from this but "miracles" do happen in football.

I don't understand how is the first goal listed as an OG? The Goalkeeper had a touch for sure but it wasn't like he pushed it towards his own goal.

It was an own goal, a crossing attempt from Herderson that the defender tries to pull off but mistakenly taps it towards his own net, and the Keeper standing in the wrong position flips it into his own post despite his best efforts to get it over the bar. I'm disappointed with Villarreal's performance tonight; I knew they were going to lose, but I expected them to play good attacking football and not sit at the back for 90 minutes without a shot on goal. It was one of Villarreal's worst performances I've seen; the first half was a little better, but they got it wrong in the second half. Their journey ends here.

[Wawa2013]

Haha what we expect doesn't match reality Villarreal trying to play defensively without doing anything just watch they only make one shot
I know Villarreal are trying not to concede so they can turn things around in the 2nd leg but they forgot that the opponent this time is Liverpool
Liverpool current position is very favorable they only need to draw in the 2nd leg.

Yeah, the statistic of the match shows that Villarreal only wanted to play defensively at Liverpool's home. They knew the chance and they could only do defense as possible as they could, to get fewer goals. ANd luckily, only 2 goals that Liverpool could score.
But, I think that the chance of Villarreal to
avenge in the second leg is also very small. Liverpool is much better in any case. Although they may have also a chance, it is very small. I don't mean to underestimate Villarreal, but if their performance is the same, it will be very hard for them to defeat Liverpool.

I understand why Emery is focused on defending against Liverpool, because if Villarreal play attacking they will concede more goals. Because we know
the quality of Liverpool's players is far above Villarreal, so Emery's strategy is correct. At least in the first half Villarreal was successful in holding back
attacks from Liverpool and the match could end in a draw in the first half. Unfortunately Liverpool have a genius coach like Klopp who immediately learns
how to win games. After giving some instructions to Liverpool's players, it looks like Liverpool's attack in the second half was much more organized.
Finally Liverpool managed to score a goal in minute 53 and followed by a second goal in minute 55, Liverpool's victory made Villarreal disappointed.
But this Liverpool win will definitely make the second leg match much more interesting, because Villarreal will definitely decide to play more attacking
in the second leg match.

But the question is whether Villarreal can beat Liverpool in the second leg, because so far Liverpool are superior in every way to Villarreal.
It's hard to imagine that Liverpool will be beaten by Villarreal in the second leg match, because after all Liverpool are too strong to be defeated
by Villarreal. There is even a possibility that Villarreal will be defeated by a higher score if they decide to play attacking in the second leg.

[AndySt]

Villarreal did a really good job in the first half by keeping Liverpool at 0-0. But the second half was different of course. It wasn't hard to predict that Liverpool would start to play much more effective. Villarreal still tried to keep the same game plan in this half too but it didn't help them too much. Liverpool scored in the 53th and 55th minutes consecutively and got 2-0 ahead suddenly. Villarreal needed to take risks after this score I thought. But they still didn't take the risks they needed and they barely were able to keep the score at 2-0 until the end. But I already believe that Liverpool are in the finale now.

The first goal conceded played a cruel joke with Villarreal and the team lost confidence and concentration for a while and immediately conceded the second goal. In any case, Villarreal came to Liverpool with the task of not scoring more goals than the hosts, but conceding as little as possible. But it seems that such a score is not a verdict for Villarreal and Villarreal's quick goal in the second leg can revive the intrigue in the confrontation with renewed vigor. Of course, two goals conceded are not the optimal result for Unai Emery's wards, three goals conceded practically deprived the team of chances. The only thing I would like to add is that Villarreal almost did not succeed in counterattacks and this can be called the worst away match in this draw in the Champions League, because before that the team necessarily scored in six away matches of the tournament.

[BitcoinHunt3r]

Villarreal did a really good job in the first half by keeping Liverpool at 0-0. But the second half was different of course. It wasn't hard to predict that Liverpool would start to play much more effective. Villarreal still tried to keep the same game plan in this half too but it didn't help them too much. Liverpool scored in the 53th and 55th minutes consecutively and got 2-0 ahead suddenly. Villarreal needed to take risks after this score I thought. But they still didn't take the risks they needed and they barely were able to keep the score at 2-0 until the end. But I already believe that Liverpool are in the finale now.

Yes Villarreal players almost frustrated Liverpool players in the first half unfortunately in the second half Villarreal's defensive began to shake because stamina goes down
However Liverpool definitely don't want to lose the advantage of playing at home they have to win to secure the first leg so that in the second leg Liverpool play without a burden

This is a  strategy in every unbalanced match I mean between favorite team vs surprise team, Villarreal did it against Bayern Munich and want to try it against Liverpool
I'm sure Liverpool anticipated it they've been watching how Villarreal play and avoid the trap, 2 goals down makes Villarreal uncomfortable so in the 2nd leg Villarreal can't play like this anymore they have to attack, unfortunately it's very risky because Liverpool are very dangerous in open play.

[bhooscream]

Villareal still lucky to go home two goals behind Liverpool since that could have been three or four. There's no coming back from this but "miracles" do happen in football.

Liverpool shots on target were only 5 although all shot attempts were 19. So, making 2 goals in this match is good enough, I don't think they deserve to make 4 goals. Liverpool needs to improve their shots on target in the next Leg if they want a bigger score. Sure, there will be always a miracle, we cannot judge Villareal is already eliminated from UCL. If Villareal applies a different strategy in the next Leg, they may give a surprise to Liverpool. But they must more brave to attack if they want to make 3 goals or more. They cannot use a defensive strategy anymore.

[Lordhermes]

City won their first leg against the Los Blancos side 4-3. The game was really an interesting one. City didn't hold in the first  10 minutes of the game, they were already leading 2 nil.  Kelvin Debruyne flying header in 2mins of the early half really slow down the Ancelloti side. The worst of it all was Alaba blunder, which him lost control of the ball, and Gabriel jey converted the opportunity into goal. City follow up their opponent back to back with tight tackling. The Los Blancos would have given up in the game but Karim Benzema awaken his team spirit when he netted the goal in the 33mins of the half halve. That moment, you need to see the frustrating face of Pep Guardiola. The game ended 2-1 in the first half. Second half kickoff, perhaps real Madrid were doing fallible mistakes in the early minutes of second half. Phil Foden converted this opportunity to goal in 53th minutes, modric and Benzema were complaining about poor tackling. Then Vinicius Junior made a counter attack from the midfield when. He dribble pass Fernandinho and score the goal to make it 3-2 in 55th minutes. The game was becoming more tougher for the both sides. Bernando Silva netted Madrid goal post with an incredible strike which pinned Courtois, he was unable to move, in 74th minutes of the game to make it a 4-2 lead for Manchester city. Real Madrid continue their struggle to make it 4-3 when Karim Benzema took the penalty cause by Fernandinho to make the scoring sheet 4-3. The game ended in favour of city but Los Blancos side try in the game. It's not easy to come to Etihad Stadium and played.

[MAAManda]

I just woke up from sleep and was very surprised to see today's UCL result , I think Villarreal can at least score 1 goal in their away game and repay it at home. Based on match statistics, Liverpool fully dominated this match, they managed to create a lot of goal opportunities (19 attempted shots, 5 of them were shots on goal), in contrast to Villarreal which only had 1 attempted shot and 0 shots on goal

From this first leg match I think we already know who will go to the UCL final, we just have to wait for the second leg between Real Madrid Vs Manchester City.

[Ahli38]

I understand why Emery is focused on defending against Liverpool, because if Villarreal play attacking they will concede more goals. Because we know
the quality of Liverpool's players is far above Villarreal, so Emery's strategy is correct. At least in the first half Villarreal was successful in holding back
attacks from Liverpool and the match could end in a draw in the first half. Unfortunately Liverpool have a genius coach like Klopp who immediately learns
how to win games. After giving some instructions to Liverpool's players, it looks like Liverpool's attack in the second half was much more organized.
Finally Liverpool managed to score a goal in minute 53 and followed by a second goal in minute 55, Liverpool's victory made Villarreal disappointed.
But this Liverpool win will definitely make the second leg match much more interesting, because Villarreal will definitely decide to play more attacking
in the second leg match.

But the question is whether Villarreal can beat Liverpool in the second leg, because so far Liverpool are superior in every way to Villarreal.
It's hard to imagine that Liverpool will be beaten by Villarreal in the second leg match, because after all Liverpool are too strong to be defeated
by Villarreal. There is even a possibility that Villarreal will be defeated by a higher score if they decide to play attacking in the second leg.

this must be a heavy pressure for villareal. and like it or not in the second leg they have to play attacking even though it means it will be easier for Liverpool.
and in this match alone in the second half their defense was a bit loose. it happened at least because in the first half they were too happy to hold 0-0 . and as a result in the second half their defense became a little loose. And it's no wonder it would be an easy meal for Liverpool. because in the second half Liverpool seemed to be more organized and very epic in playing because their coach was really smart.
I would not be surprised if in the second leg there will be more goals.
and the result will be clear for later between Villareal and Liverpool in the 2nd leg.

we just have to wait for the results of the second leg of manchester city vs real madrid. and this is what i've been waiting for.

[Despairo]

I bet Liverpool will win 2-0 against Villarreal.

My guess isn't wrong lol, Liverpool played very well and dominate almost everything!
Villarreal is just lucky when they won against Bayern Munich, with the current results and perform, I don't see any chance Villarreal would win in the second leg. Liverpool really doesn't give any chance to Villarreal to shots, I watch only 2 shots from Villarreal along the match. The second leg will begin in the next week, I will predict Liverpool will win 2-1 or draw for 1-1 as it will happen on Villarreal's home.

[ShowOff]

The first goal conceded played a cruel joke with Villarreal and the team lost confidence and concentration for a while and immediately conceded the second goal. In any case, Villarreal came to Liverpool with the task of not scoring more goals than the hosts, but conceding as little as possible. But it seems that such a score is not a verdict for Villarreal and Villarreal's quick goal in the second leg can revive the intrigue in the confrontation with renewed vigor. Of course, two goals conceded are not the optimal result for Unai Emery's wards, three goals conceded practically deprived the team of chances. The only thing I would like to add is that Villarreal almost did not succeed in counterattacks and this can be called the worst away match in this draw in the Champions League, because before that the team necessarily scored in six away matches of the tournament.

Villareal recorded the worst statistics in the first leg of the Champions League against Liverpool. I don't think it's an exciting match for the semifinals, but I think it's a completely unattractive match to watch. Villareal didn't manage to do anything to the detriment of Liverpool as they only focused on defense until the end of the match. Villareal should have lost more goals, but lucky they conceded only 2 goals to Liverpool. I'm sure Liverpool will also win the second leg.

[pakhitheboss]

The first goal conceded played a cruel joke with Villarreal and the team lost confidence and concentration for a while and immediately conceded the second goal. In any case, Villarreal came to Liverpool with the task of not scoring more goals than the hosts, but conceding as little as possible. But it seems that such a score is not a verdict for Villarreal and Villarreal's quick goal in the second leg can revive the intrigue in the confrontation with renewed vigor. Of course, two goals conceded are not the optimal result for Unai Emery's wards, three goals conceded practically deprived the team of chances. The only thing I would like to add is that Villarreal almost did not succeed in counterattacks and this can be called the worst away match in this draw in the Champions League, because before that the team necessarily scored in six away matches of the tournament.

Villareal recorded the worst statistics in the first leg of the Champions League against Liverpool. I don't think it's an exciting match for the semifinals, but I think it's a completely unattractive match to watch. Villareal didn't manage to do anything to the detriment of Liverpool as they only focused on defense until the end of the match. Villareal should have lost more goals, but lucky they conceded only 2 goals to Liverpool. I'm sure Liverpool will also win the second leg.

I was going through Villareal's stats and found that their pass accuracy was only 66%, which means they had very less possession of the ball. Whereas Liverpool had 88% pass accuracy. That is one of the reasons they were not able to score a single goal. It was a one-sided match and Liverpool is now close to reach the finals once again.