Liverpool reach 10th Champions League final with victory over Villarreal in Spain

  • Fans celebrate in a pub in Liverpool as their team reach the final of the Champions League

Liverpool fans have been celebrating after their team booked their third Champions League final in five seasons after a 3-2 second-leg win in Villarreal saw them progress 5-2 on aggregate.

It was a test of their nerve as they saw their first-leg advantage wiped out by debut goals in the competition from Boulaye Dia and Francis Coquelin.

But the half-time introduction of £37.5million January signing Luis Diaz, who has reinvigorated 2022 for Jurgen Klopp's side, changed the game.

The joy of Luis Diaz as his team goes from 2-0 to 2-2 during Villarreal vs Liverpool. Credit: PA

Manager Jurgen Klopp revealed his side had to completely readjust their game plan after finding themselves 2-0 down at half-time.

Klopp told BT Sport: "Respect to Villarreal, their team, stadium, coach... unbelievable what they set up and put us under pressure.

"Man-v-man over the whole pitch. We didn't play football at all. We didn't get momentum back in the first half. I told the boys, 'where's that momentum? they don't own it'.

"We had to start playing football. All of a sudden, when we broke the lines, finding the half-spaces and being more free and more flexible, not fixed on our positions, all of a sudden we were in the game, scored goals and made it happen."

Klopp revealed his side had to completely readjust their game plan after finding themselves 2-0 down at half-time. Credit: PA

This was the first European semi-final away leg the 2019 winners had won since 1985, having lost the last four and conceded 11 goals in total yet still progressed on three occasions.

Liverpool will find out later who they will face in the final when Manchester City play Real Madrid, but some fans do not want another clash with North West rivals...

Liverpool fans agree about who they want to play in the final:

Liverpool are into a third final of the season, having won the Carabao Cup and facing Chelsea in the FA Cup a week on Saturday, and this victory means they will have played every game available to them in their fixture calendar.

The pursuit of a quadruple - and a seventh European Cup - rolls on.