In a focus battle in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final that ended in the early morning of April 28, Beijing time, La Liga powerhouse Villarreal, who visited Anfield, lost 2-0 to Liverpool. In this game, the "yellow submarine" was almost kicked, and they only had 1 shot on goal in the whole game, and 0 shots were on target.
Although Villarreal had previously eliminated Juve and Bayern in succession, in the face of the more powerful Liverpool, villarreal was still very pragmatic to "swing the bus" in the whole field. In the first half, Emery's barrel formation really made the powerful Liverpool at a loss.
But in the second half, when Liverpool adjusted, they quickly relied on their strong strength to score two goals in three minutes to take away the victory. And although Villarreal then tried to organize some attacks, it was difficult to create a threat against the Reds' backline led by the world's top centre-back Van Dijk.
According to post-match statistics, Huang Qian scored 1 shot on goal and 0 shots on target, becoming the least number of shots on goal in the Champions League semi-final since the 2003/04 statistics, equaling Inter Milan against Barca in the 2009/10 Champions League semi-finals (also 1 shot on goal and 0 shots on target).
It is worth noting that Villarreal also suspected of escaping a penalty. In the 60th minute of the game, Villarreal was already 2-0 behind and Liverpool were still attacking. Salah burst into the penalty area with the ball and the already deflated Spanish international Paulo Torres pulled Salah down with his throat locked in the penalty area. But the referee turned a blind eye to Paul Torres' foul.
This has also caused the dissatisfaction of many Liverpool fans, just imagine if the first leg is 0-3 behind, perhaps this group of Champions League duels in the second leg has completely lost suspense. And 0-2 also allows Villarreal to return to the home field, there is still a hint of a big reversal.