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Villarreal face uphill mission against Liverppol

Villarreal/Liverpool, May 2 (EFE).- Villarreal will on Tuesday face the uphill battle of trying to turn around their 2-0 defeat when Liverpool travel to eastern Spain for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final.

The Spaniards will draw strength from their fairytale run to the last-4, which saw them fell European powerhouses such as Juventus and Bayern Munich.

The caliber of Tuesday’s rival is of a different level, however.

Villarreal are facing the “best team in the world,” head coach Unai Emery said at a press conference on the eve of the clash.

Emery, however, refused to throw in the towel: “We are very excited. We are going to play a Champions League semi-final. We played 90 minutes against the favorite… in their stadium, they fairly beat us.”

“But we were able to defend well and we are focused on playing our game, looking for our options, facing them and beating them in the duels,” Emery added.

But they will have to do without Alberto Moreno and Yeremy Pino due to injuries, while Arnaut Danjuma is a doubt having missed Monday’s training session.

Liverpool, meanwhile, approach the game after earning a 1-0 victory against Newcastle, which kept them in the hunt for the Premier League title.

The Reds are still hoping to bag a historic quadruple.

Against the Magpies, Jurgen Klopp introduced changes to his starting lineup to rest regular starters such as Mohamed Salah, Fabinho and Thiago, who were inserted in the second half. Trent Alexander-Arnold started and finished the game on the bench.

Liverpool will hope to extend their 2022 unbeaten away run, with a balance of 11 wins and two draws to secure their 10th Champions League final appearance. EFE

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